Twice In One Day
I haven’t posted twice in one day for ages but I had to come
on to say: I Love Doubleheaders! And the Sox haven’t won twice in one day since since time immoral.
My early start was rewarded by a genuine quality start from
Julian Tavarez, followed by a classic 1-2-3 setup job by OKG and three Go-Sit-Down outs for the save by Papelbon. A strange
2-1 win that never seemed in doubt.
The second game was, on paper, the more likely win but
Schilling struggled and left trailing, to be picked up by the defense and the
offense. In both cases this happened to be Eric Hinske, first with a
dirt-scraping, full-stretch catch on the warning track to deny the Tigers a
couple of runs; then a two run homer to give the Sox the lead and OKG the save
opportunity, which he duly took.
People are suggesting Hinske should take on Trot’s Dirt Dog
nickname but I think that devalues Nixon’s contribution to this ballclub over umpteen
seasons. Hinske may have gained full acceptance into RSN today, rather than
being just that guy on the bench who used to be in Toronto.
I think the MLB.com sub-editor got it right with Eric The Red. That’ll do for
now, maybe DD later.
So they took both halves of the double header and now stand
9 games up with the best record in the known universe. Braves over the weekend
then off to NYC for three. Much more of this and we’ll be partying like it’s 2004.
Weather Gods permitting we could make that ten game lead by
Monday but there’s a major risk that the series with the Braves might
get washed out along with at least one game of the Subway series. We shall see.
RSN NZ 
Hi John: I think you are right: Hinske made his bones in RSN last night, and I was glad to see it. I’ve liked this guy as a player ever since he won ROY in Toronto, and think he’s a valuable asset to the club: a guy that can play the corner OF and IF spots and is always one of the first guys out of the dugout to congratulate someone on scoring a run.
That was one of the top 5 catches I’ve ever seen last night, and for him to hit the go ahead HR was great to see.
Hope you have a great weekend in NZ.
Ted
It was a great catch, and Hinske got a fine standing ovation from the bleachers and RF stands when he came out for the next inning.
The home run was icing on a pretty good cake!
Hi Iain, I only caught the replay of the catch. Were you at the game? I thought you were back in Paris, in the desert:)