Yoooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuukilis!
But I get ahead of myself.
Yesterday five housemates (including three Red Sox fans) and I headed out to Comerica Park to catch the first game of this weekend’s Boston Red Sox-Detroit “Best Record in Baseball” Tigers series. Given the group’s desire to sit in cheap ($15) seats, we were up in the upper deck. As a side note, I’ve decided that my dislike of upper deck seats comes from growing up with the Metrodome — the higher you are, the closer you are to the ceiling, and the more you are reminded that you are inside. However, at an outdoor park, the higher you are… well, you’re just higher and with a more bird’s eye view of the field. But it’s not at all stifling like it is in the dome.
And then there was the game. It’s started bleak for the boys from Beantown, with the Tigers scoring a quick run in the first on two doubles. The Sox finally answered back in the fourth when the cereal beat out the chicken, as Coco Crisp got a single off of Kenny “Roasters” Rogers and later scored on a Manny “not named for a popular food brand” Ramirez single to tie the game at one a piece. But the even score didn’t last long as the Tigers came back with a run in the bottom of the fifth on a handful of singles to put the Tigers in the lead.
At this point, the Windsor Canadians behind us and the Toledo natives in front of us began to get ruthless. I at least gained some sympathy from the Toledoens (?) when I told them that I was also a Twins fan who had been at the 18-1 clobbering. They proceeded to attempt to “out do” my suffering by explaining the torture that is being a Mud Hens fan. The Canadians, however, would have none of it. But they did have plenty of beer.
And so it came down to the top of the ninth, with Manny and TeK due up. (And by the way, no one gets the VariTeK/LaTeX jokes here.) Yet Manny grounded out to short and Varitek popped out foul to third base and suddenly there were two outs and things were really looking bleak. It was all up to third baseman Mike Lowell, who won his World Series ring with the Marlins in 2003. Lowell kept the game alive with a sharp single to center, bringing up Kevin Youkilis.
Youkilis started the at bat with a first pitch strike, and the Canadians started getting really obnoxious. “Two more!” they screamed. But there would be no more — Youkilis shut them up by hitting a homerun just over the left field wall, pulling the Sox ahead for the first time in the game. Suddenly we became the obnoxious fans and the Toledoens turned their caps inside out in the hopes of a Tigers rally, which was not to be. Jon Papelbon came in in the ninth to quickly mow the Tigers down one-two-three, including two strikeouts, and get the save.