This is all you will get and you will like it!

The TBB are apart this week. Serena is with Erin in Beantown and I am here in New York. Both of us seem to be enjoying this sh*tastic weather that Mother Nature has given us. It is clear that Mother Nature has had a nervous breakdown on the job because there is no way by the end of May that I should have to wear a sweater and jeans as well as contemplate breaking out my boots. Mother Nature get your sh*t together! The good news is that the sun seems to be coming out so not all of the weekend will be a black cloud of sorrow.  The bad news is that I was the one deciding if you guys were going to get a solo blog. No one tried to butter me up or buy me nice thing so nothing for you. You will get some baseball notes that I deem worthy and a slight rant and that’s it!!

Here lies my slight rant:

Ok so I am well aware that the Mets are going no where this year. I knew that from before the season started. I mentally prepared myself for failure so that it would not be such a great let down. I don’t want to hear excuses for fans like “Well they have no one on the team”. That’s horsesh*t! The Yankees seem to be doing fine with their gang of misfit toys . The Mets have TOWSNBN and Matt Harvey with a giggle gang backing them up. Even The Bad News Bears eventually turned things around and made it to the championship game as well as go to Japan in the sequel. I don’t like to blame the manager for these things unless of course the manger is a real a**hole and I have no problems with Terry Collins but maybe the Mets need a alcoholic Walter Matthau to lead them into battle.  I do have a simple solution. Since this year is a toilet bowl flush why they don’t just send some players down and bring up some fresh meat is beyond me.  Let’s see what we got growing on the farm. I have two players in mind Ike Davis and Lucas Duda. It pains me to watch these two clowns.  How much harm can it do if we give some other players a chance? They can’t be any worse then what we are seeing. Are you going to give me the argument that no one is going to pay money to go to the game if a bunch of no names are on the field? Guess what people no one is going to the games now. Something needs to be done and fast. Papa L is extremely angry and I have a feeling the Mets performance might be affecting his health.  I haven’t seen him this irate since the Luis Castillo dropped ball and that took him a very long time to get over. I am like a woman scorned one too many times that she starts to become numb to the sense of feeling and that is how I am getting thru this season. I will tell you one thing I learned by watching the Mets is that the Mets are like snowflakes no Met loss is ever alike.

Baseball notes:

Good news for Serena’s Big Texan! He will be eligible to come off the disabled list on June 1^st. He was initially put on the DL for a strained left trapezius muscle. Pettitte will pitch a simulated game on Tuesday and then head back into the Yankees rotation. Yippee Yay for Serena! In other Yankee news Curtis Granderson a broken fifth metacarpal on his left hand after being hit by a pitch in the fifth inning Friday night against the Tampa Bay Rays. He was put on the 15 day disabled list Saturday and most likely will miss a month.

In Mets news they lost again.

To all the men and women who served  our country and to the ones who continue to serve us we thank you and wish you a Happy Memorial day !!!

Whomp, Whomp...

Well...it seems that we've bamboozled you. While we may have intended to give you a blog, we're not actually going to. We got distracted by Chipotle and an Archer marathon. Oops. We SWEAR that next week, we'll give you a legit baseball-related blog and THEN after that, you'll get our video of the Stages of Burpees. So, we promise to make this setback up to you.

Random baseballness:
Curtis Granderson left today's game with a fractured right forearm thanks to being a hit by a pitch in his first at bat of the spring training season. WELLLLLP, that was quick. He'll supposedly ready for action by May 5th or so.

Our tickets to July 20th's Royals/Tigers game have been purchased, as well as our passes to the Early Bird pre-grame experience for that day. Single-game tickets for the Cardinals go on sale on March 1st, so slowly, but surely the 2013 stadium tour is falling into place. Hooray.

Okay, back to Archer. Peace out, bitches.

All-Star Ballot? Already?

Lisa is in Punta Cana right now, so I regret to inform you that you’ll be dealing with me alone today. I promise to be somewhat well-behaved. Last week, we asked you what you do with yourself when rain shuts down your baseball quality time. Only 3 people had any inclination to vote, which makes me think that we’re starting to lose you people. I realize that we’re a-holes and that a lot of the crap we write on this blog is complete nonsense, but really, we just want to make you laugh. Don’t you find us funny anymore? Did you ever find us funny? Anyway, all 3 folks claimed that they like to get f*cked up and pass out in the middle of the living room when there’s no baseball. This makes me think that we cater to the unique group of individuals known as “alcoholics.” No one chose, “watch a Real Housewives marathon on BRAVO,” “pick my nose (and this was truly a wise decision as I would’ve spent several paragraphs making fun of anyone who chose this option),” or “I don’t understand the question and I won’t respond.”

It’s hard for me to talk about what’s been going on in New York in terms of baseball because I haven’t been able to watch. Why? Cable’s been acting like a real NTAC (no talent a$$ clown), so while I’ve had access to the Real Housewives marathons on BRAVO (just what I need), I’ve had no access to SNY or YES (for those of you out-of-staters, SNY is the network home of the Mets and YES is the network home of the Yankees). I managed to catch the Brewers/Cardinals game on FOX yesterday afternoon, but needless to say, I’ve been quite frustrated with the fact that my only connection to the Mets and Yankees has been via baseball apps on my portable internet machine (the cell phone). However, a nice man showed up today and waved a weird-a$$ device around the apartment that I’m pretty sure the Ghostbusters used to catch Slimer and now I am enjoying YES for the first time all week.

If you’re registered with MLB.com like Lisa and I are, you probably receive at least 5 stupid emails a day. I received a disturbing one yesterday. MLB is already asking fans to vote for this year’s All Stars. How is this even possible? We’re still in the first month of the season. Personally, I feel that voting shouldn’t even begin until June. How could you possible rate players’ performances based on one month of duty? That’s ridiculous. That’s like my boss giving me my performance evaluation for this year now.

Of course, I’m bitching about this as if people aren’t going to vote for the same guys they vote for every year. Let me take a wild guess and say that 50% of the American League starting lineup will be made up of Yankees, 30% will be Red Sox players, and the remaining 20% will be a cocktail of the remaining teams. Oh, and duh, TOWSNBN will obviously be the starting thirdbaseman for the National League because god forbid we should vote someone else into that position. The sad thing is that one of the Yankees that should be considered an All Star will most likely won’t be an All Star because he’s not a big name like Curtis Granderson (this is in no way suggesting that Grandy shouldn’t be an All Star because he’s a fantastic athlete that can do just about anything—bunt, hit for average, hit for power, steal, field, maybe even cook a decent meal and do laundry) nor does he have a lovable, popular personality like Nick Swisher (again, I love Swish, but should he be the starting right fielder for the American League? No…unless, of course, you’re only taking into consideration his April performance). The player I’m talking about is Brett Gardner. Gardy does everything right. He works hard, gets the bunt down, he’s a phenomenal base runner in a time when base running as a skill has taken a giant dump (actually, come to think of it, bunting is another skill that has become a lost art), and he’s a fantastic left fielder! He really doesn’t get enough credit. Plus, even Lisa loves him. That should tell you something since the only other Yankee she is in love with is Derek Jeter. Unfortunately, unless you have the privilege of being able to watch the Yankees on a daily basis (or happen to be an avid fantasy follower), you probably don’t know who Gardy is and since you don’t know who he is, you’re never going to vote him onto the All Star team. It really is a shame.

The All Star ballot will be officially launched on Friday. Do the right thing, folks. Do the right thing.

Baseball notes!

Tim Lincecum continues to cultivate my utter adoration for him. He just doesn’t stop. I wish he would at this point. My affection for him can no longer be deemed healthy. He doesn’t even play in New York. I need to be in love with someone who plays for my team. Yesterday, Padres’ pitcher Anthony Bass carried a perfect game into the 6^th inning when lo and behold, Lincecum stepped up to the plate and ran out an infield single to short stop. Look at that skinny boy hustle down the line. Love that shit. As if that didn’t earn his pay check, the boy pitched 8 innings in the Giants’ 2-1 victory, giving up only 1 unearned run, striking out 5, and walking 4. The walks aren’t so sexy, but the good news is that Timmy looks to be returning to form.

Today, Braves’ fans will have the pleasure of seeing Tim Hudson make his 2012 debut after recovering from spinal fusion surgery. Even more good news is that the Braves could potentially get Brian McCann back for Monday night. McCann left Friday’s game early with a strained right intercostal muscle. I sincerely wish I could speak to that injury but I don’t even know what an intercostal muscle is…or what body part it’s attached to. For all I know, it’s something in his ear.

Michael Pineda is officially out for the season, requiring surgery to repair his torn anterior labral. Again, I wish I knew what this was, but based on what I’ve heard, I am pretty confident that this is something in his shoulder. Especially considering I don’t think Pineda has a vagina. This is probably an extremely inappropriate joke, but as I said earlier, Lisa isn’t here so I don’t have anyone keeping me in check.

If you hate Justin Verlander (and I don’t know how that’s possible seeing as how he loves Taco Bell), I dare you to watch this video and not become all squishy inside for him.

Lastly, anyone not rooting for a team in the NL East want to take a stab at who is leading the division? It’s not the Phillies or the Mets. It’s not even the Marlins, who talked a lot (and I mean, a lot) of shit this off-season. The Marlins, with their fancy new stadium, are in last place. The team leading the NL East is the Washington Nationals, followed closely by the Braves. What a shocker. Good for them. Shake things up in the east.  

Before I sign off, I just want to give folks the heads up that the 3^rd Annual Fred K’s Cancer Event has been relocated from Cantiague Park to Eisenhower Park (North Linden Picnic Area, Parking Field 6A) due to a scheduling mix-up on the part of Nassau County. We hope to see as many people as possible, so please join us on Saturday, June 23^rd, where you’ll get a chance to meet and walk with The Freds. You may even meet a few folks that are listed in the TBB Lingo & Cronies page of this blog. Also, if there is any way I can sell something of Lisa to you in order to convince you to come down, I’ll be more than happy to do that. She’s not here to defend herself, so I’m allowed to do this. I mean, I can’t sell her body to you or anything like that, but almost everything else is open for negotiations. Very exciting stuff. You can register to participate online here.  

Next week, Lisa will be back so there’ll be no vagina jokes. Swear.

-Serena

So Let’s Dance the Last Dance

Welcome to the last official day of mobile blogging. Oh and last official Friday blog posting. Since this is Serena’s last day with this company, the TBB have a final practical joke to play on those being left behind. Unfortunately, we cannot divulge exactly what the master plan is until after 5:00…or else certain folks may attempt to thwart this exhibition. In the meantime, we’ll share last week’s poll results. We asked which of the discussed MLB commercials tickled your fancy the most. Of the 7 responses, 4 people felt that Brian Wilson and his magical beard for MLB 2K11 was the best. Only 1 individual thought Joe Mauer’s new “well-played, Mauer” commercial for MLB The Show was amusing. Tim Lincecum’s commercials only earned 1 vote apiece as well. No one chose David Wright’s Vitamin Water commercial or Joe Mauer’s original “well-played, Mauer” commercial. That’s a little sad considering that the Joe Mauer one is really enjoyable to us.

Monday started off bright and cheery (at least for Lisa) because the Mets announced that they’d released Oliver Perez, choosing to eat the remainder of his $12 million salary rather than tolerate his bull shit any longer. Bravo! In the first 2 years of his 3-year contract, Perez went 3-9 with a 6.81 ERA in 31 appearances (21 starts). HAHAHAHA. So long, Ollie! Unfortunately, our joy in his departure was short-lived as for some god forsaken reason the Nationals chose to sign him to a minor-league deal yesterday. Why the f they’d sign a jack-a-loon like him is beyond us. They started the offseason so promising by acquiring Pudge Rodriguez and Jayson Werth and now they’ve got Ollie?? If he makes the team, the Nationals would only be responsible for $414,000 (being that the Mets are still paying him $12 MILLION). Just because something’s on sale, doesn’t mean you buy it, people! Maybe they’re just looking for someone to take a crap on the mound every few days. If that’s the case, we’ll be happy to do it for a 1/3 of what they’d have to pay Perez.

In other humorous news related to former idiot Mets players, the newly signed Luis Castillo never showed up to Phillies’ camp on Tuesday. While manager Charlie Manuel claimed that he wasn’t disappointed in the situation, it seems as though Phillies’ officials were a bit confused and frustrated by his absence (and can we really blame them?). Castillo had agreed to a minor-league deal on Monday morning. Manuel hadn’t been informed as to WHY Castillo was delayed, but a source told Buster Olney of ESPN Magazine that it was a “personal matter.” Aw, did he get his period? Pal, if you’re trying to get a permanent job, it’s probably not a good idea to blow off your first day at work. Not that we’re experts or anything like that…

Curtis Granderson was scratched from the lineup against the Orioles on Tuesday night because of an oblique strain. The team is still uncertain what this means in terms of a timeline for his return, but he could miss Opening Day…again. Super.

Lastly, the Nationals officially placed Stephen Strasburg on the 60-day DL as he recovers from September’s elbow surgery. We really hope that they didn’t make the a$$ clown Perez decision based on this. Talk about a terrible impulse purchase.

Little tid bits of information for you that aren’t to be taken lightly as you’ll definitely need them to survive. Check out the Fred K’s Cancer website or Facebook page to see what awesome shit we’ve gotten donated thus far for our raffle contest. This year’s contest is clearly going to be amazing. Please don’t judge the number of fitness-related items and assume that the TBB have either gotten incredibly fat or in incredible shape. We’re still basically hovering around the “average” line.

We finally purchased our tickets to our Twins/Mariners game at Target Field. This was a little more involved than our purchase of Brewers tickets. Lisa spent about 45 minutes on the phone with the operator attempting to secure tickets on the first base side. Initially, Lisa checked the Twins website, but to her dismay, she kept getting tickets for standing room only, which is simply not an option because we’re inherently lazy. While on the phone, she discovered that her choices were still pretty limited, but a little more flexible than just standing room…meaning that she could choose standing room or two single seats nowhere each other. Finally, she had no choice but to visit our old friend, Stub Hub. For a total of $120, we got seats in section 107 (which is on the first base side aka: in view of Justin Morneau). On the Twins website, these seats cost about $50 each so we didn’t get hosed too badly on the cost. *sigh* We underestimated you, Twins. For that we’ve paid the price. Apologies. We’ll never fail you again. OH! Also, since we’re forced to “download” ugly tickets, if anyone is attending this game, please meet us at our section to donate your real ticket stubs. : )

Travel items left to be accomplished for 2011: Booking a Milwaukee hotel, booking Denver airfare, and if it’s in the cards, Toronto airfare, hotel, and Blue Jays tickets.

Tomorrow, we’ll be joining Roberta at the Ab Crunch Challenge for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital at the West Hempstead Lady of America Fitness Center. With all of the energy we’ve devoted to Fred K’s Cancer this year, we thought it best to bow out of the actual crunching and fundraising. Instead, we’ve chosen to donate to Roberta, cheer her on, and count her crunches for her. Again, we’ll be in full military regalia in order to fully express our high level of intimidation.

“It’s the last blog. The last blog on Friday. Yes, it’s our last blog. Last blog on Friday. We need you to still read us on Sunday, it’s a fun day. Last blog todayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.” Thank you and have nice night!

MLB Opening Week 2010

Today is one of those rare unplanned occurrences where you’ll be receiving a solo blog on a Friday. Sister will potentially be induced today, so in anticipation for this momentous occasion, Lisa must remain by her phone, ready and able to jump at any second to take her to the hospital. Both of us apologize from the bottom of our hearts if you’ve just had it with reading our solo accounts, but these things happen. Please bear with us in the interim. I wish Sister the best of luck in the delivery of her first bundle of joy, whether it happens today or this weekend.

This week has been very exciting for us as it has signaled the arrival of what we’ve been pining for all winter long (and as a result, you’ve had to read some pretty retarded postings from our end): the kick off to the regular season. As promised, Lisa and I celebrated opening night with beer at the Main Event, but before I get into that, I’ll report on the results of our poll.

Either the start of the season has led to an influx of TBB readers or Erin’s promotion of our post on her Facebook page led to more blog traffic because we actually managed to get 11 votes this week! I am pretty sure that this is some sort of TBB poll record. Let us bask in this for a moment.

Right. Moving on.

We apparently have no winner this week, as we have a five-way tie! Another first in TBB poll history. A League of Their Own, Sandlot, 61*, Bull Durham, and “Mine isn’t listed” all earned 2 votes. If you selected “Mine isn’t listed,” we had requested that you to leave us a message telling us your choice. CM informed us that her favorite movie is Little Big League and while she didn’t post a message, my coworker, Beanie, did stop by my cubicle earlier this week to tell me that her favorite movie is Fever Pitch. I love Beanie like an Office Mommy, but I did groan loudly at this piece of news (which she fully expected, I assure you). Pride of the Yankees came in second with 1 vote. No one voted for the remainder of the choices: Major League I & 2 (this rendered my utterly speechless for a good five minutes as I thought about what Harry Doyle might say about this situation—“Take over, Montie. I’m in the bag?”), Angels in the Outfield, Everyone’s Hero, The Bad News Bears, For the Love of the Game, and Rookie of the Year.

For a brief overview of baseball’s opening day(s), I’ve listed who I felt rose to the occasion and who…well…sunk like the Titanic.

Who Shined?
“Tiny” Tim Lincecum pitched 7 scoreless innings against the Astros, striking out 7 in the Giants 5-2 victory.

Mark Buerhle dominated the Indians over 7 innings, leading the White Sox to a 6-0 victory, striking out 3 and retiring the last 10 batters he faced. Not only did he rule from his perch on the mound, but he flashed a little leather as well. Take a look at this gem! Well done, Mark!

Roy Halladay, as to be expected, struck out 9 over 7 innings in his National League debut as the Phillies owned the Nationals with an 11-1 victory.

Lastly, the Atlanta Braves offense lit up Cubs’ pitching, scoring 16 runs, including a 3-run home run from Jason Heyward in his first MLB at bat off of veteran, Victor Zambrano. Derek Lowe lasted 6 innings for the Braves, giving up 5 runs, 5 hits, and 3 walks.

Who Tanked?
Continuing with the theme of the Braves’ massacring the Cubs, Victor Zambrano became the first pitcher to allow 8 earned runs in 2 or fewer innings in an opening day start since Kevin Tapani in 1998…who also pitched for the Cubs. Good grief.

The Nationals’ starter, John Lannan only lasted 3 2/3 innings against the Phillies, allowing 5 runs, 7 hits, and 3 walks. He logged 0 strikeouts on the day. He was pulled in the 4th when 8 of the 10 batters he faced reached base.

Both Josh Beckett and CC Sabathia failed to live up to expectations for their ESPN Opening Night extravaganza. Both barely managed to make it to the 4th and 5th respectively. Beckett was tagged for 8 hits, 2 of them coming as home runs, and gave up 5 runs and 3 walks. Very un-Beckett like. On the flip side, Sabathia allowed 6 hits, 5 runs, and 2 walks. Add a little bull pen trouble to the mix and what do we have? A 9-7 victory for the Red Sox. Not a pretty way to begin the season, I must say.

On Sunday night, Mamadukes, Roberta, Lisa, and I walked to the Main Event to celebrate the start of the baseball season in style. The place was a desert wasteland. I assume the reason behind the lack of patrons had something to do with it being Easter, but I feel strongly that God would’ve wanted us to honor Easter by drinking beer and watching baseball. It’s not written in the Bible or anything, but I still stand by my statement.

At first, the night started off promising (for Yankees fans anyway). Beckett was struggling, the Yankees were winning, and it being the holiest day of the year for the Christian faith, we were actually able to grab 4 stools at the bar, something that would be virtually impossible on any other day. Granted, there were signs that the night was going to head downhill. For example, the man sitting immediately to Mamadukes’ right was…creepy. He had a bit of a staring problem, which scared Lisa, but I tried to be optimistic for once and assumed that his staring was a result of being alone and having no one to talk to. To the left of us sat a young man, who epitomized “Guido,” wearing rosary beads as an accessory. I might not be the best Catholic in the world, but I think it’s safe to say that rosary beads were not meant to add flair to your outfit. Maybe I am just too conservative, I don’t know. Finally, our bartender (who was not our usual kick ass bartender, Maria) was awful. She was out of sight for most of the game. However, we had beer, food, good company, and were having some good times, so we ignored the warning bells.

I know we promised that we’d be eating the Olympic Sampler while watching the game and I am sure you’ve been waiting with bated breath to see a picture of that bad boy, but it was just not so. After devouring hefty Easter dinners, Lisa and I simply could not stomach it. However, we couldn’t just leave you out in the cold. Desserts would do. Lisa ordered chocolate lava cake while I sampled the chocolate chip ice cream pie (and by sampled, I mean that I cleaned my plate).

Our clean dessert plates seemed to signal the end to our good fortunes. By this time, Sabathia’s struggles began to steam roll and Creepy McStare’s entourage arrived. Furthermore, Mamadukes and Roberta took this opportunity to go home! No sooner had they left than Creepy McStare’s balding friend, who wasn’t creepy per say, but guilty by association, asked if he could buy us a round of beers. Now, I am sure that most girls would be thrilled to receive free drinks, but we’re not most girls. What is the point of accepting drinks from a man you have no interest in entertaining a conversation with? In an empty bar like that, if we’d taken him up on his offer, we would have been doomed to socializing with Creepy McStare’s cronies when all we really wanted was to enjoy the game. You’ll get no fake numbers from the TBB. If you ask for our number and we’re not willing to give it, the answer is simply no. However, Baldy was pretty cool about it and once we politely declined his offer, he didn’t harp on it. He let us be. Kudos to Baldy.

If only Creepy McStare followed Baldy’s lead. Despite the arrival of his friends, he continued to stare. For awhile, Lisa stared back, hoping to embarrass him into stopping, but all that accomplished was an extended period of sustained eye contact. What was his deal? We deliberated. Was he simply staring at the television behind us? The sustained eye contact and the fact that the Yankees game was also broadcast on the television directly in front of him told us no. Was he disgusted by the amount of beer and food we had consumed? Possibly, but I am guessing that that wasn’t the case considering he continued to watch us even after our plates had been cleaned away. Perhaps he found one of us or both of attractive? I might’ve bought this suggestion had his staring not been so intense or if he had attempted contact at some point during the night. However, other than the staring, he didn’t once initiate any sort of conversation with either of us. Moreover, there is no reason that a man would be so captivated by our looks that he should become entranced by them. While I wish I could say this is so, we’re no Angelina Jolie/Jennifer Anniston duo. Lisa wondered if she had food in her teeth. I checked. She didn’t. I was wearing a v-neck tank top. Did my boobs fall out of my top? Lisa and I verified. Nope. They were still covered and snuggled in their bra where they belonged. Neither of us had snot hanging from our nose, food stains on our clothing, an open fly, or a talking parrot on our shoulder. What in the world was he starting at? The situation was so brutal that Baldy bought us a round of beer anyway, explaining that “I’m buying you a beer because I am sorry that my friend keeps staring at you.” When your own friend calls you creepy, you’ve probably got a problem.

The cherry on the sundae was the third companion. He had a severe lisp and bitched for two solid hours about how much he hated the Yankees. Dude. Really? Two hours? Is it necessary to devote that much energy to something you can’t stand? Aside from the hostility, the best part about his rant was regarding how the Yankees and Mets purposefully arrange for their schedules to be “easy” while the rest of the league contends with more difficult opponents. Weird theory, but I am willing to hear what a person has to say before I judge. Unfortunately, I didn’t get very far into his argument because he opened with the following statement, “Like when the Yankees play the Pirates for 9 games in a month…” Um…pretty sure the Yankees never play the Pirates in 9 games for the entire season, let alone a month since they’re not in the same league. If they face off at all, it will be at most 3 times during inter-league play. Between Chan Ho Park’s nonsense and the Three Caballeros, by the 8th inning, we were mentally done. We finished watching the game in my living room. What’s worse? The Red Sox defeating the Yankees on opening night at Fenway or listening to a moron rant about a topic he doesn’t understand while his level 5 friend stares at you? Honestly, I’ll take a Yankees loss, thank you.

Baseball Notes: The Mariners certainly did not start the week off right when they placed Cliff Lee on the 15-day DL with a strained ab. This move was to be expected considering all of the health problems Lee’s been dealing with all spring. The Mariners weren’t the only team to succumb to the disabled list this week. The Giants were forced to place second basemen Freddy Sanchez and Emmanuel Burriss and outfielder Fred Lewis on the 15-day DL as well. On Monday, following his poor outing against the Yankees, the Red Sox announced that they’ve signed Josh Beckett to a 4-year contract extension worth $68 million. In further Bay Area news, it appears that signs of My Love’s former self are making an appearance. On Tuesday night, Barry Zito pitched 3-hit ball over 6 innings, striking out 5 in the Giants 3-0 victory over the Astros. Hopefully, this is the start of a Zito Renaissance and not a fluke. The Rockies received somewhat good news regarding the status of Huston Street’s health. Tests on his injured right shoulder revealed no significant damage. Street will begin a strengthening program for the shoulder in the coming weeks and begin throwing in a process that should last into May. While I am sure the Rockies are thrilled to hear that Street’s injury is not the result of serious damage, I sincerely doubt they’re happy about having to be without their primary closer for at least the month of April, if not longer.

Wednesday proved to be a great night for baseball (at least for me). While at Citi Field, the Mets did not fare well against the Marlins in extra innings, the Red Sox and Yankees faced off in a well-played battle at Fenway Park. I am sure that this will be read with bitter sarcasm by Red Sox fans, but I am being sincere when I say that. Andy Pettitte and John Lackey each pitched a solid 6 innings. Pettitte allowed 1 run and struck out 4, while Lackey held the Yankees scoreless, striking out 3. Curtis Granderson finally broke the 1-1 tie in the 10th with a solo shot off of Jonathan Papelbon. The Yankees would go on to win 3-1, but since it was Granderson’s home run that gave them the lead, I am dubbing him the TBB Super Hero of the Week. This game was almost perfect baseball. Sure, Papelbon giving up that 10th inning home run was less than desirable for Red Sox Nation, but someone had to break eventually. This time it was Papelbon, but we have a lot more games to play (and miles to go before I sleep?) and who’s to say who’ll be the next to break? If the tables were turned and the Yankees had lost that game, I would’ve been admittedly disappointed. However, I’ll accept a loss like that any day over a loss like Sunday night when they blew a 4-run lead in the 5th thanks to shoddy pitching.

Lisa and I will be back to our joint blogging efforts next Friday. Til’ then, au revoir!

-Serena