I haven't made a Red Sox entry in probably about 3 years, and that's mainly because I'm a pretty poor baseball fan, even though the Sox are technically my team. However, for the first time in my life I've really started to elevate my interest in baseball in general, and by extension, the Red Sox. It's probably no surprise that this has happened to me over the course of this season in which the Red Sox have had the best record in baseball for a lot of the year, being that since I'm not a die hard fan I'm essentially a frontrunner. In any event, for the last month or two I've really been following the Red Sox closely, and during this season I actually did watch all the Sox games that were broadcast thanks to Tivo. I even went to a game against the Angels with my Dad back in early August (which the Red Sox lost horribly). Lately I've been reading everything I can find about the Sox, from message boards to blogs to sites like ESPN, and I've even been following the games that aren't on TV out here on ESPN"s GameCast. I'm even toying quite seriously with getting the MLB Extra Innings package on cable next year so I can see almost all the Red Sox games and really follow them next season.
Anyway, tonight was a real big night for the Red Sox and their fans as the Sox won the American League East pennant for the first time since 1995 (in 2004 when they won the World Series they were the wildcard team). The Yankees, or as they're known to the online Red Sox fanbase the "MFYs" (you figure it out), had won the previous 9 AL East pennants, due in large part to the fact that they have the highest payroll in sports, which they did again this year, topping out at over $200 million. Nevertheless, the Red Sox have put quite a team together this year and should be poised to make a serious run at another World Series win, but that's getting ahead of things.
Tonight the Red Sox defeated the Twins in Boston, and then tens of thousands of Red Sox fans stayed after the game at Fenway Park to watch the Yankees-Orioles game on the jumbotron in case the Yankees lost, which would give the Red Sox the pennant. Well, it was looking bleak with the Yankees up 9-6 in the bottom of the 9th when ace closer for the Yankees, Mariano Rivera, blew the save and allowed the Orioles to tie it at 9 apiece and send it into extra innings. In the bottom of the 10th the Yankees allowed a man on and intentionally walked two guys to load the bases which set up a suicide squeeze from Jay Payton to give the Red Sox the division crown. When this happened the Red Sox players, who had been watching all this in the clubhouse, came back onto the field to celebrate with the fans, and apparently just got hammered drunk. The Red Sox ace closer, Jonathan Papelbon, was by all accounts the real standout drunk, as he was running around the field without his pants on while wearing swimming goggles and an empty Bud Light case on his head. Below are a couple pictures, enjoy:
Good times for the Red Sox tonight :)