4/23/05 -- Obey the Prime Directive

It’s time for Jose Melendez’s KEYS TO THE GAME.

Tonight it the first night of Passover, the feast of unleavened bread (note: and four cups of wine. Any religion that has a holiday ordering what the American Medical Association calls "binge drinking" is okay with Jose.) Every year, Jose finds that one of the most poignant moments of the Seder service is the commemoration of the plagues. Because Pharaoh would not free the Jews, God punished all Egyptians with 10 plagues ranging from, the relatively benign (frogs), to the gross (boils) to the truly horrible (death of the first born). Each Jew remember these plagues and the fact that the Egyptians, who are human being too, had to suffer by dipping a finger in red wine 10 times and placing a drop on his plate, one time for each of the plagues.

Empathy is good. It binds us together as human beings and keeps us moral far more effectively than the fear of God. But empathy is much easier to come by when your side is on top. This year, we, as Red Sox fans are on top, so Jose asks you to join him in remembering the ten plagues of October and the suffering of Yankees fans, who, after all are still human beings... technically. So let’s take our glasses of red wine and get ready to dip.

Millar’s walk
Roberts’ steal
Mueller’s hit
Ortiz’s walk off homer
Tony Clark’s ground rule double
Wakefield’s brilliant relief
Ortiz’s walk off single
The umpires’ reversal of the "no home run" call
The umpires’ reversal of the slap call
The Sox come back from 3-0 to clinch at Yankee Stadium

Now, DRINK THE FIRST CUP OF WINE.

For the full KEYS visit www.wallballsingle.com