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Jim Leyland and Doc Rivers should start a support group for managers and coaches aggrieved by incompetence by game officials. Mark Cuban would be president, Bill Simmons vice president, and Dennis Eckersley sergeant-at-arms. Leyland watched with growing anger as his team slipped further below .500, a defining loss that could be attributed to a blown call by the officials in the second inning. Home plate umpire Jeff Nelson maintained that Mike Aviles swung and missed Doug Fister’s 0-2 pitch and that Gerald Laird caught the ball for the final strike and therefore the final out of the frame. Nelson was overruled by first base umpire Bill Welke, however, who thought that Aviles fouled off the pitch and Laird didn’t catch it. After the call it seemed like each batted ball was fueled by Leyland’s rage. Aviles proceeded to line a single to center to plate the go-ahead run. Daniel Nava doubled over Quintin Berry’s head to the base of the wall in center field, deep enough to score Aviles from first. Dustin Pedroia scorched a grounder to Prince Fielder that the rotund first baseman couldn’t glove, allowing Nava to score and Pedroia to reach second. All told the Red Sox...
Monday was Memorial Day, a day that unofficially marks the start of summer but more importantly honors the people who have served or sacrificed to protect our shared ideals. That day the American League Central-leading Cleveland squad visited and were vanquished, 5-3. It was also the day of the first Royal Rooters outing of 2007. One member brought his friend who had lost a bet and had to wear a pink Jeter player tee the entire game. He was also supposed to wear a pink hat, but that part of the wager was waived. The hat would make an appearance elsewhere. We sat in the bleachers. Needless to say, his attire didn’t go unnoticed. The row behind him needled him mercilessly, chanting about the hue of the shirt and the player it represented. My friend Matt called out cloyingly, “Miss, I for one think you look lovely. Don’t listen to these hoodlums.” Then, in a fake whisper accompanied by an exaggerated wink, “Call me later.” That unleashed the floodgates of feminine pronoun use by the entire section. More than a few Type As in the section to our right were obsessed with starting the wave. They relentlessly marched the aisles...
Game 50: May 28, 2007 Indians 3 L: Cliff Lee (2-2) 31-18, 1 game losing streak12-4-1 series record Red Sox 5 W: Curt Schilling (5-2)H: Javier Lopez (6)H: Brendan Donnelly (6)S: Jonathan Papelbon (13) 35-15, 4 game winning streak13-3-2 series record Highlights: Trot Nixon returned to Fenway since he signed with the Indians. It was the seventh anniversary of his home run off Roger Clemens with the Yankees in a game that also featured a complete game by Pedro Martinez. They swept the cowboys; how would they do with the Indians? First-place American League Central teams come to Fenway to have their mettle tested. Shortly after the Tigers slunk away from Boston with a series loss they were swept by Cleveland to fall to second in their division. Already dominating their own division, the Red Sox sought to wreak havoc in other divisions. Curt Schilling dispelled growing worries about his declining performance with his dominant seven-inning showing. He gave up a six hits, no walks, and a single earned run. He struck out 10 batters, dismissing Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner twice. Every Cleveland hitter except Trot Nixon struck out at least once. Schilling’s rebound was overshadowed by Kevin...
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Photo courtesy of the Boston Public Library’s Sports Temples of Boston.