One 2013 Boston Parade I Can Get Behind

The Red Sox Won the 2013 World Series!  The boys and I were watching every minute of the game (the girls went to sleep well before us) and we all celebrated like it was 1918.  This was the year of it being our city and every little thing was going to be all right.  It was the year of beards and no beers.  It was the year of Papi and Lackey.  And it was the year of another sports parade in the City of Boston.

It was just a year and half ago when the boys talked me into going to the Boston Bruins Parade after they won the Stanley Cup.  Now that was excruciating.  A bunch of fair weather fans celebrating like they were waiting 100 years for the Cup.  They couldn't sell out the Garden until the playoffs, but then 2 million people come to watch the parade?  Hogwash.

But it was a pretty good time.

So when the World Series, which was never in doubt, ended in a Red Sox victory, I was hopeful that the parade would be on Saturday or Sunday so we could go.  G would ask me too. "Are we going, Dad?" was the refrain on Thursday and Friday.

"Go where?" I ask knowing that that is just going to cause trouble.

"To the parade!!"

"What parade?" I quizzically ask in return.

"Dad, you're not that funny."  C chimes in as he walks into the kitchen.  I guess 11 year olds don't get Dad's sense of humor.

So on Saturday morning, we started making our plans.  We ignored Mayor Menino's admonition to take the train in and drove.  We scooted right in drove into Kenmore Square and parked right on Beacon Street.  It was actually tougher getting the kids out of the car with no injury than it was to drive in.  And the problem was S's scooter which she insisted on bringing for some reason.

We walked down Brookline Avenue and took a left onto Yawkey Way.  Thousands of people were in front of us and behind us.  Even though it was just 9:45 am, the mood was celebratory.  The bars were open, people were chanting.  Kids were dancing.  G was asking for baseball cards at the Souvenir Store.  Everything was right with the world.

After a brief stop to take some pictures with the 2013 World Series Banner, we continued down Yawkey Way onto Boylston Street and then walked as close as we could to the corner of Boylston and Ipswich where the parade began.  Unfortunately, we were about 20 deep in our spot and had to really stretch and squint to see anything.  But honestly, who cares?  We are celebrating the freaking Red Sox winning the World Series. 

The duck boats started coming around the corner at around 10:15.  A couple of duck boats would be followed by a confetti machine rocketing red white and blue confetti into the air.  The celebratory mood turned into anticipation as the kids were waiting for Big Papi and Dustin Pedroia.  The team doctor, owners and the rookie scrubs were nice, but not as nice as seeing the players responsible for the win.

Finally, the Ortiz's duck boat came around.  Well at least it looked liked Ortiz' boat, but we were so far away that it could have been anyone really.  I took pictures and lifted G up to get a better view.  My back was also asking to be strained so it made sense to lift 95 dead pounds.  The crowd was going nuts and confetti was everywhere.

And just like that it was over.  We were back in the car at 11am.  A lot different than the 4 hours we spent waiting for the Bruins to come to the corner of Boylston and Tremont.  And as we were walking back to the car, I was bombarded with requests for Red Sox shirts, cards, baseballs, everything.  They wouldn't be asking for this stuff in November unless the Red Sox played deep into October.  So although I still said NO to them, I still appreciated the sentiment.

Indeed.  Don't worry, 'bout a thing.  Cause every little thing is going to be alright.

The Red Sox Return to the 2013 World Series

No one expected it to happen.

They lost more than 90 games last year with most of the same crew toiling away.  Bobby Valentine swore that he got everything he could out of the then beardless Dustin Pedroia, Jon Lester, John Lackey, Jacoby Ellsbury and David Ortiz.  Management claimed that it was not their fault, they brought in a GM who was ready to clean house and bring in new players.  They all said that 2013 was going to be different.  The memories of 2011 and 2012 would disappear.  No one expected it to happen.

2013 began with a whimper.  Instead of going after big free agents like Josh Hamilton and Zack Greinke, the Red Sox went after the likes of Shane Victorino, Koji Uehara and Mike Napoli (remember when the Red Sox almost voided Napoli's contract because of his hip?).  They relied on comeback years from Jacoby Ellsbury and John Lackey.  They were hoping youngsters like Jose Iglesias, Will Middlebrooks and Allen Webster could play big roles in the Red Sox resurgence.  But no one expected it to happen.

Even as the Red Sox were winning games early in the season and staying with the Yankees, Orioles and the Rays in the AL East, we were looking at the likes of closers like Joel Hanrahan and Andrew Bailey, asking if this was the shape of our bullpen. The Marathon bombing happened and the Red Sox became a galvanizing force in those weeks afterward, punctuated by David Ortiz's heartfelt speech and Daniel Nava's clutch 3 run home run at the first home game after the bombing.  The Red Sox became the thing that pulled us all together as we were grieving for those that we lost and those that go injured.  Still, no one expected it to happen.

When the Yankees and the Orioles started to fall behind and only the Rays were keeping up with the Red Sox over the course of the Summer, we were all convinced that the Rays would overtake us and we would be shut out of the Wild Card by either the Angels, Rangers or A's.  We have been trained by this particular crew that they look good on paper, but can't come together when it matters.  No one expected it to happen.

When the Red Sox started growing those ridiculous beards and made the playoffs, we were convinced that the Rays had better pitching and could take us in 5, especially if Price pitched two of those games.  We didn't believe in the power of the Beard at the time.  When we won that series to play the Tigers, many pundits thought that the Tigers big three would pitch right past us.  And to a big degree, they did.  When we won game 6, that was a huge moment for the Red Sox.  As Victorino won Game 6 with his huge home run, Napoli singlehandedly won Game 3 with his home run and Uehara won the ALCS MVP, I think all of started to believe it could happen.

Now the Cardinals stand in the way of the Red Sox's third world series in 10 years.  And I hear echoing in my head is Joe Castiglione's call "Stabbed by Foulke. He underhands it to first and the Red Sox are the World Champions.  For the first time in 86 years the Red Sox have won the World Championship.  Can you believe it?"

What I Learned from the 2013 ALCS

When I was able to score two tickets to Game 1 of the ALCS between the Red Sox and the Tigers, my first thought was who to take.  I knew if I took C, G was going to pout and possibly start to cry.  If I took G, then C would beat the crap out of him until he was too injured to go.  The fairest way to handle this was the same way that we handled the draft...by having them pick a number between 1 and 10.  When C won that round, I began to see the tears.

Boston, MA.  7pm.  Fast forward 6 hours to Fenway Park to watch Game 1.  We got in pretty early for the game and saw the Tigers take some batting practice.  It was pretty cool to see batting practice being taken by some guys who can crush the ball.  As we stayed through the next 5+ hours, here is what I learned.

1.  People at Fenway sing at the silliest things.  Hey I get the whole crowd frenzy and sing-a-longs.  But the newest just makes me snicker.  Shane Victorino's at bat music is Three Little Birds by Bob Marley.  It stops right before "cause every little thing is going to be all right.."  Guess which 35,000 people sing that in unison.  Yup you guessed it.  Sweet Caroline, move over.

2.  David Ortiz does not hustle on ground balls.  C actually yelled at Papi to run after one particularly slow ground ball to second base.  But C really enjoyed someone yelling, "Papi, run you lazy bum!!"  He still talks about that.

3. Ice Cream is not a Good Food Choice in the Fall.  C goes one minute freezing to telling me that he wanted an ice cream.  I got him the soft serve in a helmet.  He immediately throws his helmet away.

"C, I paid an extra buck for that helmet!"  I ask with an exasperated tone

"Sorry, Dad, I was done with the ice cream and the helmet got in my way." C responds like he does not appreciate the value of money.

4.  Sweet Caroline is the Anthem of the Drunk.  C is 11 years old.  Two drunk people in front of us started to serenade C.  It did not go that well.  "I'm done with him, the 55 year old woman said to us as we started to look around the park looking around for help.  The girlfriend of the drunk 25 year old singing to C, actually fell asleep during the song.  It could not end soon enough.

5.  Terrible Towels Don't Work Here.  In Pittsburgh, yes.  In Minnesota, yes.  Red Terrible Towels for the game?  It doesn't work.  The towels started to fly around the park like beach balls.

6.  Nothing like October Baseball.  When I told C that this was the first game I had ever seen in October (meaning I had never seen a playoff game), he was astounded.  Even in 1986, he asked?  No not even then.  There is nothing like baseball with the crisp air and the electric atmosphere. 

7.  Go to these Games with your Children.  They will always remember this experience.  If you can ever take some tickets to a playoff baseball game, I encourage you to go.  It's worth it.

Go Sox!

The Great 2013 Baseball Card Draft - Part 1

The latest craze in the JMR household is Baseball Cards.

Now, one of the hobbies that I enjoyed when I was a kid was collecting baseball cards.  Starting in 1978, I used all of my allowance money to buy those glossy Topps brand cardboard pieces.  I used to beg my Father to buy me baseball cards from the local store that was near his shop.  I used to bug my brother to give me his baseball cards that he never looked at.  I used to sort my baseball cards by team.  It was an obsession for me.  I went to baseball card stores.  I attended the local baseball card conventions and I tried my luck at baseball card auctions.  When I was a little older, I even tried my hand at this baseball card pyramid scheme to make some money (that went great!...!).  Steve Yeager should be proud that he suckered someone.

Over the years, I had collected some interesting baseball cards.  Nothing that special, but I had some old baseball cards from the 1950's that were worth hundreds of dollars.  It represented a time in my life that I wanted to remember.  And I was not going to part with them easily, or so I thought

Fast forward to a year ago when the boys started bugging me about baseball cards themselves.  Now my boys had gotten interested in other things previously (coins, cars, etc.) and every time they lost interest just as quickly.  My house is littered with their failed hobbies.  One day I saw them going through my baseball cards (not taking any, they insisted) and in a fit of paternal love, I told them that if they were still interested in baseball cards a year from now, I would split up my cards between the two of them.

"Dad, can we have your baseball cards, now?"  G asked me almost one year to the day that I promised them that I would do so.

"Yes, let me figure out how to do it in as fair of a way as I can"  I remarked, without a tone of stalling at all.

Who will get this card??

"I really want your Jackie Robinson card, Dad."  referring to the 1953 Jackie Robinson card that I've had forever.  Oh, G.

"Me too, Dad.  And I'm the oldest!"  C explains thinking that being the oldest means anything more than a free babysitter when he turns 12 years old.

Finally, on a random weekend afternoon when the girls went out to do their nails, I gave the boys their chance to share in my childhood memories.  But first, we had to figure out who was going to go first.  I had the day before decided on doing this in a draft format.  Whoever got the first pick got Jackie Robinson.  Then the other one got the next two picks, and so on.  So I figured out that we would pick numbers 1-9 to see who goes first.  Best out of 5.

It was nerve wracking to say the least.  Even LC was interested in this as the boys were hopping around as the number would fall in each series.  To make it as fair as possible, I chose the number and had LC keep them in a hermetically sealed envelope (well not that far, but she was the gatekeeper of the numbers).  Finally after 20 long minutes of angst, G won the first pick 3-2.

After C was finished pummeling his little brother, we retired up to the little couch room to begin the draft.  I promised 2 hours of entertainment and story telling of how I got the cards.  They promised not to beat the crap out of each other.

Come back for Part 2.  The storytelling.

Scicoh Football Week 1 - Hingham and Duxbury

SCICOH 4TH GRADE FOOTBALL SWEEPS WEEKEND; COACHES REJOICE

September 7, 2013.  Hingham, MA.  After 4 weeks of intensive practices in the New England Summer heat, the SciCoh Sharks opened the 2013 season with an impressive away game win against the always-mighty Hingham Raiders, 32-8. 

After losing to the Raiders two times in 2012, the White Sharks were ready for a measure of revenge in the 2013 series.  "We were ready for them this year.  I felt good about our chances," remarked Coach Dunn.  

But that confidence was shaken early - despite protests from the SciCoh coaching staff on a missed holding penalty - as the Raiders opened the scoring with a 60 yard touchdown on the second play of the game.  But that would be the last play of the day for the Raiders as SciCoh's stellar defense recovered four fumbles, led by standouts Q. Gannon, F. Agostino, C. Coyne, H. Dionisio and N. Tierney.  L. Fernando led the team in passes defensed with 1.  Truly a team effort on defense.  It appeared that the hot dogs and Gatorades provided prior to the game by Hingham native, Coach Dalicandro, had little effect on the defensive unit.

Not be outdone, the Sharks' highpowered offense, led by J. Cannon and S. Morley, rumbled for over 300 yards rushing and four touchdowns.  D. Stanley paced the outstanding blocking from the frontline, springing Cannon for two touchdowns (65 yards, 55 yards) and Morley for 1 touchdown (53 yards).  SciCoh QB, C. Pitten punched his own ticket with a 1 yard TD scamper.

September 8, 2013.  Duxbury, MA.  Looking for the weekend sweep, SciCoh Blue came into Duxbury looking to avenge their only regular season loss from 2012.

"I still remember that JV game here 2 years ago when the Dragons tore us apart," said happy-go-lucky Coach Harris as he walked onto the field before the opening coin toss. "The coaches and I still talk about that game like it happened yesterday."

Led by a stifling defense that allowed only 2 first downs the entire game, SciCoh Blue came away with a 20-0 win over the Dragons.  K. Sullivan (44 yard TD, 25 yard TD) paced the SciCoh attack with 76 yards rushing on 3 carries.  QB J. Kinsley added his own touchdown with a 1 yard QB sneak.  S. Morley also paced the offensive attack with 34 yards of his own.

"It was a good effort, but we have a lot of things that we need to work on."  Coach Kinsley remarked.  Coach Losordo nodded and added.  "I personally don't remember even playing Duxbury two years ago.  I think Coach Harris made that up to motivate himself."

Photographs courtesy of Michael Jones and Nolan Jones.