Empyreal Environs

Texas catcher Mike Napoli’s last name is of course the Italian way of saying Naples, the third largest city in Italy and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe. Napoli the slugger has continually inhabited Fenway’s basepaths this series. After slamming two home runs in the series opener Napoli added another to his tally in the fourth inning. The two-run longball put the Rangers ahead 3-2.

Napoli added to the lead in the eighth, knocking the ball off the left field wall with the bases loaded. One of Napoli’s nicknames, the Chef, is certainly apt given the meal he made of Red Sox pitching. The other, Turkey Sandwich, is about what you would expect from a team with the traditions of Antlers and the Claw.

A nickname of city of Naples is Pulcinella’s City. Pulcinella is a stock character of Commedia dell’Arte whose tactic was to pretend to be too stupid to know what was going on. According to this site Pulcinella embodied Naples because “his melancholic approach to life” entails the avoidance of problems and somehow “getting out of everything, in the same simple manner as how he got involved.” The pot-bellied (a trait shared by Napoli) character proved so popular that it evolved into Neapolitan puppetry. From there the trickster character captured the minds of people across Europe, even crossing the continent and the channel to become “Punch and Judy.”

Time for the Red Sox to stop being Judy.

Game 12: April 18, 2012
Texas Rangers 10-2	6	W: Derek Holland (2-0)
		2B: Mike Napoli (1) HR: Napoli (4)
Boston Red Sox 4-8	3	L: Josh Beckett (1-2)
		2B: David Ortiz (7), Kelly Shoppach (4) HR: Kevin Youkilis (1)