The Year in Review

There was an advertisement on the Metro the other day asking, "Do You Get Depressed in the Wintertime?" It was some study for seasonal depression syndrome or whatever it's called. And I thought about. "Yes, maybe I do..." But it's more the lack of baseball than lack of sunshine that does me in. Not being a big football fan - or basketball or hockey (but who is?) - means that the end of the baseball season usually forces me into sports hibernation until spring training.

So now that the champagne has been imbibed, the rolling rally has rolled, and the the hot stove is already burning (please keep Lowell!), I've decided to post my reflections on the baseball season, as seen through the eyes of this Sox fan. I remember the first day of the season back in April because I was in the Hague in the Netherlands and stopped into a Subway sandwich shop which had internet to check the score. Ouch, a 7-1 drubbing by the Royals. Not a great start, but then bookend the season with a glorious post-season and it all gets put in perspective. So from the Hague to Washington, DC via Dublin, Philadelphia, and Wildwood, NJ, it's funny how your year can be benchmarked by baseball. Here are some of my favorite (if not random) memories of the past few months:

- Watching the games on MLB.tv in Dublin. First pitch 7:05 pm East Coast time=12:05am Dublin time. Nothing brings you closer to a team than staying up through the night watching these games. And then there were those 10:05 West Coast starts...

- The "Pizza toss incident" (see below)



- Having a Red Sox / Yankees party in Dublin and walking home through the wee hours in the rain after a solid Sox victory at Fenway

- Watching the games at the arcade and trying to teach a co-worker from Russia the rules of baseball. Not as easy as it seems. "See, if the ball passes between the knees and the letters, and he doesn't swing..."

- Clay Bucholz no-hitter. A piece of history.

- Baltimore "Fenway South" weekend. With the exception of watching Dice-K give up a grandslam in the 2nd inning, a fantastic weekend at the park - and great time at the Inner Harbor.

- Finding a "new local" in Northern Virginia that just so happens to be a Sox bar, as well. Always great conversation in there. Need to stop by again soon even though the season's over.

- That surreal night when Boston clinched the AL East after the O's came back to beat the Yankees in Baltimore. In many ways, I was more anxious about the winning the division than taking the World Series. Being on top since April, anything less than winning the division would have felt like a let-down.

- Not a great night for the Sox, but watching Game 2 of the ALCS in the sports books of Treasure Island and the Venetian in Las Vegas. Free drinks in a casino = eased the pain of extra inning drubbing.

- The good luck shot of Sake mixed with beer which was ceremonially placed in front of the TV everynight since Game 7 of the ALCS.

- The Playoffs and World Series. Naturally. Only thing that would have made it sweeter would have been RemDawg and Don in the booth instead of those fools from Fox. (RemDawg = Legend)



- And all those little moments in between. Like I said, fun to look back between that day in the Hague and sitting here in DC. Times flies, but even faster when you've got a pennant race going on. So sign me up for Seasonal Depressional therapy.

But at least I know it will be gone by March...