B is for Baseball (And Breakfast. And Blown Saves.)

It was my turn on the Alphabet Adventure, and "B" was my letter. Cheating a little bit, I decided that "B" would be for Baseball -- as in game 3 of the ALDS with the Red Sox against the Angels. I say cheating because I scored the tickets 2 weeks ago, before we decided to launch this Alphabet Adventure. But it works, and it's my turn so I can do what I want.

I got the tickets by being lucky enough to win the Red Sox online lottery for the chance to purchase post-season tickets. Unfortunately, by the time I was able to get through the "online waiting room", I had a choice of either single seats for $100 (meaning Sage and I couldn't sit together), or 2 standing room tickets for the 3rd Base Pavilion. I took the standing room, as they were only $30, and the Pavilion has a nice SRO area as well.

Since the game time ended up being Noon today, I took that opportunity to turn my "B" into Breakfast as well. We stopped at the famous Cabot's Ice Cream and Restaurant in Newton.

Egg white omelets, taters and toast.

I can pack it in with the best of 'em.

After breakfast it was on to Brookline and the short walk to Fenway. We made our way to the upper deck and staked out a good spot. Unfortunately it was also one of the more breezier spots in the stadium, and with temps in the low 50's with a strong wind, we both had our wool caps on to keep us warm.

Fenway fills up before the game.

The Green Monster becomes a giant US Flag.

Before the game, there was, of course, the ceremonial first pitch. For this game, the Red Sox brought back Dave Henderson, who hit one of the biggest home runs in Red Sox history 23 years ago tomorrow, on October 12, 1986. He hit it, of course, against the Angels when they were only 1 strike away from winning the AL Pennant. Hmmm...foreshadowing, perhaps?

Hendu, ready to throw out the first pitch.

October 12, 1986 is also a special day, as it was my cousin Tommy's wedding. (Oh yeah -- and 10 years to the day after that Sage and I got hitched. But the Sox didn't make the playoffs that year, so it wasn't as memorable. Kidding!)

So the Sox jumped out to a 5-1 lead, and everything looked great today. Even at 5-2 in the 8th, and 6-4 in the 9th, it looked as if the Beantown 9 would force a game 4. Alas, "B" is also for Blown Save, as Papelbon gave up his first ever runs in a post-season game and, after at least 3 points where the Sox were only 1 strike from winning the game, the Angels fought back and walked away with a 7-6 win. Not the way we anticipated the season ending.

As it turns out, Sage and I went to the first game at Fenway this year (opening day), and (unfortunately) the last. So now that "B" is done, Sage is on the clock for "C". She has 2 weeks to get it in the books.