tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8050597.post110176034046093418..comments2023-12-24T13:29:40.638-05:00Comments on KEYS TO THE GAME: 11/29/04 KEYS TO THE UKRANIAN ELECTIONJose Melendezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01099888428928787108noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8050597.post-1101797983826216172004-11-30T01:59:00.000-05:002004-11-30T01:59:00.000-05:00I don't really know what to say to any of this, bu...I don't really know what to say to any of this, but thank god for Jose Melendez. I don't know what I did for cheap, slightly baffled laughs before KEYS TO THE GAME.<br /><br />On a vaguely serious note, this is interesting. I didn't know the situation in Ukraine was like that. The Boston Red Sox-- convolutedly leading to the education of the American people. Celebration for all.Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09372295064122183744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8050597.post-1101771660085717772004-11-29T18:41:00.000-05:002004-11-29T18:41:00.000-05:00Once again Jose dazzles with the breadth and depth...Once again Jose dazzles with the breadth and depth of his knowledge of and personal experience in all manner of political, economic and social affairs. Ukraine -- who knew? (oh wait, that's sooooooooo 2003)<br /><br />Anyway, now I need to go off-topic and return obsessively to a quite narrow subject about which I posted in comments on this blog back at the end of September: The role of Pearl Jam in the Sox' success this year.<br /><br />You may recall I reported that before the top of the 8th inning of the Yankees @ Sox on Saturday 9/25, with the see-saw game tied 5-5, someone (I see the hand of Theo here) saw fit to play on the Fenway PA the absolutely vicious Pearl Jam song "Corduroy." This was the day after Pedro's "daddy" comment, and the song starts with these lines:<br /><I> The waiting drove me mad<br /> You're finally here and i'm a mess<br /> I take your entrance back<br /> Can't let you roam inside my head <br /><br /> I don’t want to take what you can give...<br /> I would rather starve than eat your bread...<br /> I would rather run but I can’t walk...<br /> Guess I’ll lie alone just like before...<br /></I>I realize this can be interpreted different ways in the context of Red Sox at that time. I choose to believe that the intended translation was "Yankees GO $&%# YOURSELVES."<br /><br />You may further recall that after Curtis Leskanic walked his second batter in the top of the eighth on 9/25, Keith Foulke came in with two outs and got Jorge Posada out on a sharp line drive to Doug Mientkiewicz (Note: who lamentably wound up being underrepresented in the KEYS TO THE UKRAINIAN ELECTION). <br /><br />And then in the bottom of the eighth the Sox' bats broke loose, pummeling an assortment of Yankee pitchers for seven runs. Finally Foulke returned to retire the visitors from New York 1-2-3 in the ninth and the Red Sox won the game 12-5.<br /><br />I'm too lazy to look up my old comments but I'm pretty sure I said at the time that I saw the playing of "Corduroy" as a potential turning point for the Sox, who, after being on fire in August through mid-September, had dropped five of the previous seven. I believe I followed up the next week with a post about how Theo flew back from Tampa Bay during the Sox series down there to attend a Pearl Jam show at the FleetCenter, during which lead singer/songwriter Eddie Vedder dedicated the song "Love Boat Captain" to the GM.<br /><br />I write now to update you with a few select statistics on how the Sox have fared since the playing of the song "Corduroy" over the Fenway PA on 9/25:<br /><br />GAMES WON-LOST remainder of regular season: 7-2<br /><br />GAMES WON-LOST, postseason: 11-3<br /><br />TOTAL GAMES WON-LOST SINCE "CORDUROY" PLAYED ON FENWAY PA: 18-5<br /><br />DIVISONAL SERIES WON-LOST: 1-0<br /><br />LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES WON-LOST: 1-0<br /><br />WORLD SERIES WON-LOST: 1-0<br /><br />NUMBER OF PEARL JAM CAPS THEO EPSTEIN WORE WHILE BEING INTERVIEWED FOR THE MLB'S RED SOX WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP DVD: 1Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com