Fenway Park, Boston, MA
Game 2 of 3
As if the talk in last night’s game about the historic 1918 World Series (the last time the Cubs were at Fenway Park to face the Red Sox) wasn’t enough for you, today we got a very awkward and unique visual representation of that contest…
throwback unis…HARD!
We’ll get to the game in a moment…first, let’s get our throwback uni freak on! Here’s Alfredo Aceves in his first start for the Red Sox (and his first start about 2 years).
Matt Vasgersian make a pretty good joke about how hard it will be for MLB to sell replicas of the Red Sox unis to their fans…it’s just a white hat, white jersey and pants, with red stockings (of course)…no logos or anything. Just White. And Red.
Here’s Carlos Zambrano modeling the Cubs unis, with a scratch. These uniforms have more ‘snazz’ than Boston, but at first glance, I’m thinking…
”prison garb??” The “Cubs” logo as represented looks like “UBS” at first (the “C” is actually an open, elongated rectangle around the “UBS”), so I drift from the prison uniform impression to some kind of a bizarre public utility worker uniform…with stirrups.
Here’s both team, in action, sporting the throwbacks.
Mike Quade is probably grimacing about something else, but I’d like to think he’s perhaps making adjustments to seeing these unis on the field…
Where
Game 1 of this series was pretty much mostly forgettable for Cubs fans, we won’t be forgetting this game for quite some time…and not in a very good way, either. Aceves is “effectively wild” during his 5 innings of work; he hit the very first Cub he faced, Kosuke Fukudome. During the 2nd inning, Marlon Byrd’s very first at bat, Aceves hits Byrd
in the face, sending Byrd reeling to the ground in pain.
It’s apparent Byrd isn’t hit on purpose, but he’s hit just the same, and for a few minutes, we are all pretty much in pain as Byrd writhes in agony.
Kevin Youkilis at 3B winces when Byrd is hit (his stirrups style leads to some amusing comments from Vasgersian and Eric Karros).
There isn’t much more to say; Reed Johnson comes in as a pinch-runner and the Red Sox take the lead early in the game, with the score at 3-1 entering the 8th inning. This is when the Cubs pull off an extraordinary 8-run 8th inning, lighting up relievers Matt Albers (6R, 5 of them earned) and newly-acquired Franklin Morales in his first appearance for Boston (2 ER). 2 RBIs in the inning are credited to Johnson.
Youkilis is hit by Zambrano in the 5th, apparently in retaliation for Byrd. We get an indication of this when HP umpire Alfonso Marquez issues warnings to Quade and Francona. Quade is enraged, holding up 2 fingers (and not as a peace sign)…indicating he is “owed” for 2 beanings. This is a historic HBP for Youkilis, his 72nd, that has him passing Mo Vaughn’s previous record with the Red Sox.
Another Red Sox Milestone: David Ortiz hits his 300th tater as a Red Sock…over the Green Monster, of course.
In one of the strangest Catcher’s Interference calls I’ve ever seen, Jacoby Ellsbury gets on base in his very first PA of the game, when on a 1-2 pitch, the end of his bat as he swings
knocks off Koyie Hill’s glove…
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