Nov
2
We took a look at photos from the past couple of Halloweens and realized that we never posted photos from that time of year in 2005, which means we also missed Doug and Lena’s wedding (and Sammy’s first trip to New York). So, without further ado, here they are. Sammy was a giraffe in 2004, and a darn cute one, if you ask me.
There’s also a picture from Sammy’s birthday, which strictly speaking was not in October, but who’s keeping track?
Nov
1
We just knew that last year would be the last time Sammy would want to be some sort of animal for Halloween. So, we were pretty impressed when Sammy’s choice this year was to be an astronaut. We got him a great orange jumpsuit, with plenty of flight commander patches, and a space shuttle backpack, with flames coming out of the bottom. It was pretty cool. He was the only astronaut on the block, and got plenty of compliments on it.
It was a little dicey that we’d even get to go out last night…Sammy was running a temperature in the afternoon, and we had to go pick him up early. Still, he rallied, probably at the thought of all that candy. We didn’t get a lot of kids visiting this year, and had lots of leftover candy. Happily, we had tried to buy only stuff that we don’t like, so I took the rest of it to work, and it was gone before I knew it. I’m amazed the people I work with aren’t 300 pounds.
We also made a couple of jack-o-lanterns over the weekend to get into the Halloween spirit. Sammy helped, directing Jennifer on how to draw the faces. We, of course, did all the work…and it’s harder work than we remembered carving through a thick pumpkin, then scooping out all the gunk inside. This is not the first time that the realities of parenthood have conflicted with my memories of childhood, and I suspect it won’t be the last.
EDIT: Michelle took some pictures of Sammy when she and Kevin got home on Halloween, and sent us the link to the Kodak Gallery. Enjoy!
Oct
30
For the second time in four years, the Red Sox are getting ready to parade through the city to celebrate a World Series victory. Sammy isn’t even five, and he only knows the Sox as winners.
In 2004, we were shocked and amazed, as well as gratified, that the Sox had finally broken a string of near misses and failures that had characterized the team for generations. There’s always a fair amount of luck in baseball, but the 2004 team was blessed with a bunch of it. When Dave Roberts stole second, it was a damn close play, and he could just as easily have been called out. End of story. But he wasn’t called out, and it wasn’t the end of the story.
In 2007, there was a fair amount of luck too, but I think this was a better team. It’s certainly a team that is better built for long-term success, which makes the prospect of next year all the more exciting. They absolutely dominated this postseason, with the greatest run differentials ever — 99-46 overall, and 29-10 against the Rockies. They say that great pitching beats great hitting, but great pitching and great hitting will overpower anybody.
What made it possible is that, with the exception of two and a half games against Cleveland, everybody played to their potential. Everybody clicked at the same time. J.D Drew and Julio Lugo played like the players they are supposed to be, Beckett was unbelievable, Ortiz and Manny were Ortiz and Manny. Up and down the lineup, everybody produced, not least the rookies, Pedroia and Ellsbury. There’s nobody more deserving of the World Series MVP than Mike Lowell, but it could just as easily have been given to Jacoby Ellsbury. There’s so much more that could be said, but a lot of people with more time on their hands have probably said it already.
Good times.
Oct
19
I know momentum is only as good as your next starter, but things sure do look better today than they did a couple of days ago. Beckett was brilliant again — eight innings, 11 strikeouts, one run (in the first inning). And the starting lineup delivered. Everybody got a hit except for Coco Crisp, and even he got on base because of an error and came around to score. Manny had the longest single you’ll ever see, courtesy of the yellow line at the top of the right field wall. Speedster Kevin Youkilis managed a triple, a homer, and a walk. They did hit into two more double plays, tying an LCS record of ten, but the rest of the offense made up for it.
The Cy Young votes are already in, since they are strictly based on regular season performance, and nobody really knows whether it’s going to be Sabathia or Beckett who wins. Their records and ERA were pretty similar, but Sabathia pitched about 40 more innings. Many people seem to think that will give him the edge. Right now, those extra 40 innings seem to have taken away his edge in the postseason. He’s had three bad starts, looking tired and frustrated, while Beckett has been even better than he was all year. In his 3 playoff starts, Becket is 3-0, his ERA is 1.17, he’s pitched 23 innings and had 26 strikeouts, with only one walk. Opponents are batting .160 against him. Meanwhile, Sabathia is 1-2, with an ERA of 8.80, he’s pitched 15.1 innings with 14 strikeouts and 13 walks, and the Yankees and Red Sox have hit .350 against him. If he ends up with the Cy Young, it’ll look pretty silly.
In any case, there will be baseball on Saturday night, and I can’t wait to see what Schilling can do.
Oct
7
One series, that is. Now we have to get through the Indians or Yankees…it was looking like the former until the Yankees pulled ahead 8-3 in tonight’s game. I’m torn about how I want this to end. While part of me really wants the Yankees to get swept, another part of me wants this to go to five before the Yankees go down, so Cleveland is worn out and we don’t have to see Sabathia on Friday night.
In any case, things couldn’t have gone much better for the Sox. After watching Manny hit the ball halfway to the moon on Friday night (actually Saturday morning), we got to see Schilling be his usual postseason self, pitching seven shutout innings. It looked like the Angels would go the entire series having scored in only one inning, but then Francona decided to bring in Gagne for the ninth. “Nine runs” appears to be the answer to the question, “How big a lead do you need before you feel safe bringing in Eric Gagne?” Even two grand slams would still leave some wiggle room. And of course, after a quick double, wild pitch, and sacrifice fly, the shutout was gone and the score was 9-1. Happily, Gagne was able to end it soon after that, meaning that the most unreliable setup man on the team got to be on the mound when the Sox completed the sweep. There’s definitely something wrong with that picture, but I’m not going to complain too much.
The magic number is now eight, and I can’t wait until Friday night.
Oct
4
Wow.
What a way to start the playoffs. In four career postseason starts, Josh Beckett now has three complete game shutouts, and he managed this one with eight strikeouts, no walks, and only four hits (none of them for extra bases). After giving up a lead-off single, he proceeded to retire the next 19 batters. He was consistently throwing two-seam and four-seam fastballs at 96-98 mph, and throwing his curve ball for strikes.
And he had great defense behind him. Coco Crisp and Jacoby Ellsbury both made outstanding catches in the outfield, and Lowell made a great diving stop in the third that we had to see in replay because TBS was still showing commercials when the inning started.
And on the other side, John Lackey didn’t miss a lot of bats. Kevin Youkilis (now tied with Manny Ramirez for Sammy’s favorite player) got his first postseason hit in the first inning, a home run that turned out to be the only run the Sox would need. Big Papi continued to demonstrate that he’s back in fine form, hitting a two-run shot in the third. And two batters later, Mike Lowell drove in another run to top it off.
Not bad, eh? I like it.
Oct
1
On Saturday we went to the new Natick Collection, formerly known as the Natick Mall, to check out what the marketing folks are calling the Newbury Street of the western suburbs. I wouldn’t go so far as to agree with that (although they do have a Tommy Bahama store!). Still, our opinion was greatly enhanced when Jennifer called me from the shoe department at Nordstrom to tell me that Kevin Youkilis was there, signing autographs. Sammy and I tore ourselves away from the island lifestyle and headed over to wait in line.
This was, of course, the day after the Sox had clinched the division, so we imagine that Kevin may have been sporting a bit of a hangover. Still, he was perfectly nice, and seemed pleased to sign Sammy’s Portland Sea Dogs hat. It was the only thing we had on us worth signing (it was that or our grocery list), but luckily, he actually played for the Sea Dogs in their first season as a Red Sox affiliate. He also seemed grateful when Sammy told him that he should win a Gold Glove some day.
Not a bad deal for a chance encounter in the shoe department.
Sep
5
It’s that time of year, when Sammy’s preschool is selling gift wrap as a fund raiser, and happily, it’s really good gift wrap! Great designs, nice thick paper, etc.
Our portion of the fund-raiser goes until September 26th, but for those of you who don’t live near us, or want to buy gift wrap later in the fall, the online sale goes through the end of the year. For any online purchases you make at Sally Foster, through December 31st, 2007, 50% of the cost will go to the Transportation Children’s Center. To participate, go to www.sallyfoster.com, select the items you wish to purchase, and add them to your cart. Upon checking out, there will be 3 options – choose the second one, which reads: “I want to enter in a group account number or search for a group to give credit to.” Enter Boston and select Massachusetts from the drop down menu and a list of schools in the city of Boston who are participating in the Sally Foster fundraiser will come up. Click on Transportation Children’s Center and continue check-out as normal.
Thanks for your support!
Aug
30
Challenge:
[youtube WALIARHHLII]
Response:
MapsForUs.org. Just about the funniest thing I’ve seen this year.
Thanks for Marisa for pointing out the former, and Galbraith for finding the latter.
Aug
28
At the beginning of May, we met Lucy Curry and her daughter, Bridget, at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence. We’d never been there, and it was a nice change from Franklin Park, our local zoo. Different animals, a different layout, a highway running right behind the elephants. Sammy and Bridget had a great time pretending to be trains and robots, and trying out brightly colored ice cream and lollipops. Here are some highlights…
