The Red Sox returned to Southern California for the first time this season and Red Sox Nation was out in force for the game. I couldn't sleep the entire night before and I felt like a kid on Christmas morning as I waited for my friend Rob to pick me up. We headed out to Anaheim for lunch before the game and ate at The Catch. They have a great menu, but the service was slower than usual. Of special note to Orange Country readers, there seems to a dearth of bartenders near the stadium, if you're looking for work. After lunch we headed off to a local card shop to kill some time. For an establishment with the word 'Sportscards' in the name, the place was short on sports cards. Magic cards encircled the store with one barren case containing less cards than I have even on my night stand. Annoyed, we walked out, when Rob spotted a comic shop on the other end of the shopping center and suggested we drop in there. Fortunately, we did and walked into a collectible store that had tons of figures everywhere. We found the McFarlane sports figures and and I dropped thirty dollars on a 2005 Toys R Us exclusive three pack of David Ortiz, Curt Schilling and Jason Varitek. The day was off to a great start and we weren't even at the game yet.
We hit up The National next. Yes, I know that it's been renamed The OC Sports Grill, but if you know me or are a regular reader, you know that I call things by the name I've always known them by, not by their new, corporate sponsor. Again, a manager was bartending through the morning, so the evening bartender hurried in to take care of us. NO, we did not have the 100 oz. tapper, but the bartender did hook us up with a few of the check presenters that had the 2010 All Star game logo on them. It was also where we started to see more Red Sox fans than Angels fans and the overwhelming influence of The Nation began to sink into Rob.
We walked into the stadium early to catch batting practice. We found a spot along the right field line and watched the bullpen start to warm up. As the Angels were finishing up, a ball got laced down the line on our side. It bounced off the wall and rolled right behind Tim Wakefield. He bent over to pick it up, look behind himself and tossed it right at us. As Rob and I reached for it, my first fear was that we would knock it down, but Rob pulled back at the same instant and I made a clean grab. We both started laughing and making jokes about me being able to hang onto a throw from Wakefield, but again, the day was off to a fantastic start.
We got into our seats behind the bullpen in time for the first pitch with hot dogs in hand. I pulled out my scorebook and told Rob I only planned on keeping score for a few innings or so. As it turned out, I didn't leave my seat for six innings as Josh Beckett was spectacular for his third start in a row. Rob and I both joked about him throwing a no-no, refusing to believe that either of us could jinx it. "Guy," Rob kept asking, "How great of a day would it be if Beckett threw a no-hitter?" Finally, in the sixth, Erick Aybar hit a little bullshit chopper back to them mound that was scored as a hit, so we put our things away and went to the bathroom. We headed up to the Knothole Club to say hello to my mother. Fortunately, I was also wearing this t-shirt.
Because right about then, Aybar lined a ball into right field, directly under our view. As we scrambled to see him head to second as the go-ahead run, the ball came shooting into view. Aybar rounded second, Pedroia made an incredible relay throw to get him out at third and I threw my hands in the air, almost knocking everyone's drinks over. Dustin Pedroia is by far my favorite player on the team (David Ortiz is a close second) and he rocked in this game going 3 for 4, getting on base five times and scoring the insurance run later that night. We left the Knothole and sat back in right field to watch some free baseball, as the game had gone into extra innings. When Adrian Gonzalez hit RBI double in the 11th right at us, we got out of those seats and went to meet a friend over behind the Angels dugout. This provided us with not only a great view of Red Sox Nation behind the first base dugout, but let us watch Jonathon Papelbon close us the Angels for the save.
A great game, a great day and a great start to the Series. The Red Sox only make it out here for four games this year and they always try to win all of them for me!
We got into our seats behind the bullpen in time for the first pitch with hot dogs in hand. I pulled out my scorebook and told Rob I only planned on keeping score for a few innings or so. As it turned out, I didn't leave my seat for six innings as Josh Beckett was spectacular for his third start in a row. Rob and I both joked about him throwing a no-no, refusing to believe that either of us could jinx it. "Guy," Rob kept asking, "How great of a day would it be if Beckett threw a no-hitter?" Finally, in the sixth, Erick Aybar hit a little bullshit chopper back to them mound that was scored as a hit, so we put our things away and went to the bathroom. We headed up to the Knothole Club to say hello to my mother. Fortunately, I was also wearing this t-shirt.
Because right about then, Aybar lined a ball into right field, directly under our view. As we scrambled to see him head to second as the go-ahead run, the ball came shooting into view. Aybar rounded second, Pedroia made an incredible relay throw to get him out at third and I threw my hands in the air, almost knocking everyone's drinks over. Dustin Pedroia is by far my favorite player on the team (David Ortiz is a close second) and he rocked in this game going 3 for 4, getting on base five times and scoring the insurance run later that night. We left the Knothole and sat back in right field to watch some free baseball, as the game had gone into extra innings. When Adrian Gonzalez hit RBI double in the 11th right at us, we got out of those seats and went to meet a friend over behind the Angels dugout. This provided us with not only a great view of Red Sox Nation behind the first base dugout, but let us watch Jonathon Papelbon close us the Angels for the save.
A great game, a great day and a great start to the Series. The Red Sox only make it out here for four games this year and they always try to win all of them for me!
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