Special Guest Writer from BeanTown

Originally Posted on 10/8/07

I decided to forward along an email I received from one crazy passionate Sox Fan! It's actually written by my friend Shergul from good ol Boston... enjoy! I'll be sure to add my two cents on the NL and AL Championship Series soon.
-Brandon

By: Shergul Arshad

OK...since Bill Simmons hasn't picked up the slack, consider this an email blog entry.

This past week, I had the great fortune of attending both Red Sox playoff games at Fenway. This was particularly exciting for me because my last home Red Sox playoff game was a bitter 2003 Sox-Yankees game when Pedro hurled Zimmer to the ground. Granted I rejoiced as that fat little gerbil got his, but Jeter (who else) homered and left us down 3-1...and we never recovered (ask Aaron Boone). Granted the Sox won in 2004 and all, but still, I was hoping to see some of that Fenway magic kick in...and boy did it ever.

Game 1. Beckett, Beckett and more Beckett. His curve with mid nineties velocity is possibly the best pitch in baseball. The bizarre game was over in 2:30 hours, it was 8:45pm and thus we "had" to make a night of it at Game On. Lowlight for me was missing Papi's homer as I waited for beers (at least I saw him round the bases). Highlight was the impromptu thong and bra displays from the 2 women in front of us as their amused husbands looked on. Classic Masshole women.

Game 2 atmosphere was off the charts. Yawkey Way pregame beers, with Yankees-Cleveland "bug game" on in the background was electric. I loved the bug spray mound meeting on Joba the Hutt. I got selected by some reporter to chat about Dice K and I (mistakenly) predicted he'd be great as he's a big game pitcher. We settled into our seats by 8:30 and were glued to them until....1am. And the seats ain't big. At least it was 70 degrees, the beers were cold and the tank tops were out in full force. When Manny connected in the 9th, there wasn't a soul there that waited to see if the ball was out - it was gone right off the bat. I had yet to experience a "Fenway Playoff Walkoff" and it met every expectation.

Now for some thoughts:

- Was Francona a genius or just lucky this past month? he rests Manny in many clutch games to make sure he's healthy, bringing him back with only a week to go...and miraculously Manny found his swing in the 9th inning of Game 2. He gets away with 4 losses for Gagne...and they still get the best record. He overuses Okajima, then rests him just in time. He saves 100 innings from Schilling...and he's the freshest pitcher we have. He should be playing Ellsbury over Drew, yet Drew delivered a big hit in Game 2. I think he's genially lucky.

- Has there been enough credit given to the Sox bullpen? Manny Delcarmen, Okajima and Papelbon were amazing. Not unhittable, but tough as nails. I was impressed. Gagne? can someone please keep him in LA and not send him back to Boston?

- How on earth did the Angels win 94 or so games? is the AL West that bad? They are as potent as the LA Dodgers ;)

- Will someone explain why Eric Wedge is pitching Paul Byrd instead of Sabathia tonight? you've got 2 chances to put away the Evil Empire, you don't just punt on one to get to game 5 at home. In a week, when the Red Sox may have lost to the Yankees, I will hunt the Indians manager down and give him a Wedgie.

- Couldn't be happier that the Diamondbacks are closing in on a World Series berth. Great organization, I had an office there for a year and I think highly of them. They have the better drew brother for sure. Aside from having no real fans, they have great young players that at least the 422 people under 70 living in Phoenix should grow up to love. Of course, the fact that if someone in their front office reads this, maybe they'll remember to add "Arshad, 2 tickets" to their will call list at the World Series games in Boston ;)

- Am I hallucinating or are the Colorado Rockies the hottest team in baseball? If Troy Tulowitzki, Brad Hawpe and Garret Atkins walked through the front door, would you know which is which? Do you even know who I'm talking about? Scary bunch, although I bet tanning parlors everywhere are gunning for them to step inside.

- Papi and Schilling...one more ring and I think they join Manny Ramirez as the Hall of Famers from this Red Sox group. But after the season, buh-bye Schill, Buchholz is a legend in the making and deserves a prime starting role as the #3 guy.

- Boston doesn't even realize it has the #4 team in college football...and someone told me hockey started but I don't believe 'em.