BY FRANCIS FLYNN*
CARVER, Mass. – Good to see the ol’ gang back together again. First time since 2004 since all the champs were in the same place. (Had my eyes peeled but couldn’t find Leskanic, though.)
I was especially happy Keith Foulke was at the Fens. That guy had ice water in his veins all year and was automatic in the playoffs. Au-to-ma-tic. Makes me want to check the sked over at the Cape Cod Melody Tent. Maybe Danzig’ll get back together again and tour. I bet they do a kickass live version of “Mother.” I’ll show up with my lawn chair, wearing my No. 29 Foulke jersey tee (sleeves cut) and a bagful of BK Whoppers.
Manny’s Mr. T mohawk wasn’t surprising. Yah, he was a punk but he was a modern day Hack Wilson and yous can all call me an old fogey if ya want for talking about ribbies. Manny was like an automatic two RBIs every time he stepped to the plate.
The best part was they helped keep the Sox rolling. Three straight against Atlanta now. That’s what they get for leaving Mass. I don’t give a care how long ago that was.
Johnny Lackey was on his game tonight. Brought the A stuff to the table just when the team needed it. Had to keep it going and Lack was just on point. Nine K’s. No walks. I thought he was gonna kill Farrell when he came out to get him in the middle of a jam in the 7th. He’s a bulldog so he just doesn’t know any better. He’s gonna fight giving up that ball – even when he knows his arm is turning to dogshit. Love that as a fan.
All that being said, I’ve also got a bone to pick with Johnny Farrell that I’d like to put out there for mass consumption: Brock Holt leading off? The guy goes 0-for-5 basically every night he starts. I swear I’m not just saying that because he went 0-for-5 last night. His diminished stature at third base has already costed a game in the standings. And he gets to lead off in a game at Fenway as a reward.
That’s not to say the guy has no talent. In fact, I know he’s got his moments – Some day somebody at MIT’s gonna find a bunch of his equations written all over a empty classroom’s chalkboard. (Dude’s a dead-on ringer for Will Hunting!) But until that time…well, let’s all hope Steve Drew’s getting close to being about done horsing around in the minors.
*Ed. Note: Carver man and friend of the site Francis Flynn is an avid Red Sox fan, Boston-born and bred. Flynn’s day job is maintaining a 10-acre cranberry bog and tract of farmland that has been in his family for three generations. But his passion is following his region’s most beloved baseball team. Flynn recently agreed to provide Fenway Pastoral readers with his own recaps throughout the 2014 regular season. All we had to do in return was promise to publish his pieces unedited and to send him a case of Miller High Life (bar bottles were specified) every week.
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