Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

You would think that I would need a vacation after my beach vacation but that wasn’t happening at all. I welcomed myself back to DC with a string of baseball games. Monday after my trip I drove up to Baltimore with Cynthia to see the Red Sox/Orioles game. The game was going well for the Sox and halfway into it I decided to walk over to the bullpen area. At Camden Yards the visitors bullpen is very accessible to views and hollers from the fans so I decided to see who I could see.

In between the sixth inning I saw Mike Timlin run from the dugout to the bullpen and there he was standing there watching the game. I figured he had to start warming up if he was going in for the seventh but he was just chillin’. David Aardsma was out there earlier with his own camp chair- looks like he wasn’t going to be palying anytime soon. Timlin turned around and started to head back into the ‘pen. Our eyes met for a moment and I give him the cool and collected headnod- he shoots one back to me and ducks back inside. Visiting the bullpen is something I’m doing way more often.

Things got real exciting when I got to see Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon start to warm up. I told Cynthia how Okajima was from Japan and she tried yelling some Styx lyrics at him. It was great to see the relief pitchers warm up and ultimately walk through the bullpen doors and enter the game. Unfortunately I saw Okajima walk through those doors and blow the game. Oh well we can’t win them all, but I’d love to actually go to a Red Sox game where they won.

The next day I took some of the Maryland crew out to Nationals Park to see the Cardinals/Nationals game. I did a pretty good job of packing the suite- I also invited Wendi and gave guest passes to Sarah and Mike since they were already going to the game. There was a two hour rain delay but luckily with a suite we were able to stay dry. Our suite attendant also did a great job in keeping us entertained. He walks in all excited to teach us a new dance he called, “The Cha Cha Slide.” Of course we knew it but we played along and at the end he came back with a cookie platter since we danced with him.

Just another great time at the ballgame- the event of choice for the summer.

Tags: baltimore, baseball, blog, camden yards, cardinals, cha cha slide, david aardsma, fun times with friends, hideki okajima, jonathan papelbon, mike timlin, nationals, orioles, red sox, styx

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

The Asian Sensation, no not me, I’m talking about Daisuke Matsuzaka. He’s the newest addition to the Red Sox rotation, creating a big buzz in his first season since arriving from Japan. But more on that later. I am going to talk about a lot of baseball in this post.

Monday I celebrated Tax Day and Patriot’s Day with dinner with my parents. After a very good meal we all looked at my Aunt’s and Uncle’s vacation photos. It was cool to look at them on my uncle’s PS3, it’s nice to know that $600+ gets you a machine that does a little more than play video games.

Tuesday I went to watch a little of the Braves/Nationals game, I really just stopped rooting for the Nats on the most part- I really enjoyed watching John Smoltz, Chipper Jones, and Andruw Jones.

Friday night I went out to Dupont Circle with Jennifer. We stopped by what is becoming one of my favorite stomping grounds, Buffalo Billiards. We watched the end of the Boston/ Yankees game and had some nice conversation. After Boston beat the Yankees, we took a walk to Adams Morgan and talked with the works over at Maggie Moos.

Yesterday I had dinner again with my parents (on their way back from Florida). We enjoyed traditional Vietnamese fare at Eden Center. I live only 10 minutes away from the place but you won’t find me there very often. However after discovery a bubble like drink I can buy there, I may stop by more often. I just said bubble like drink- sounds like I’m becoming more Asian by osmosis.

Today the weather was fantastic- it really felt like a lazy summer afternoon. I did some hardcore Costco shopping with my roommate Adam, and I enjoyed the Red Sox/Yankees game on ESPN. It’s always a treat to get to watch the Red Sox play, living here in DC it’s not a luxury I had back at FSC. Allow me to put on my sports anchor hat on so I can blog about the wonderful game.

I usually don’t recap or talk about games in detail, but I really enjoyed this matchup. It was Dice-K’s first game against the Yankees, and of course any new player in Red Sox Nation needs to understand the huge rivalry in play.

Matsuzaka hit a couple of the Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, showing that he understands how much we hate ‘em Actually he was probably trying to pitch to them inside, but I loved how ESPN showed a clip from Friday of Dice-K and Julian Tavarez (a player I first came to know as the pitcher who broke his hand after punching a cement wall). They were discussing how to handle the Yankees and you can see Tavarez pantomiming to Dice-K to hit A-Rod in the head. It appears that he took his advice to heart.

Other memorable moments, has to include one of the most amazing baseball moments I have seen (outside of the Red Sox winning the World Series or defeating the Yankees on their way) was the back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs. I was checking some e-mail when Manny hit his first one, I thought, “good for him, he’s been having a slow start”. Then I saw J.D. Drew hit one and I told Adam and Burak (who I was watching the game with), “See I told you J.D. was going to come up big.” Then Mike Lowell hit one and I just started laughing and feeling sorry for Chase Wright (the rookie pitcher who was pitching his second major league game ever). Our other roommate Nick walked in to see what we were all hollering about and then Jason Varitek his a home run. At that point we were all laughing and cheering. I love the Red Sox.

Jonathan Papelbon closed out the game and was lights out as usual. I remember watching his first major league game back at FSC. I even think I blogged about it. Who knew he would become a whirlwind force in the bullpen. The other night the commentators on Fox made notice of his delivery: he stares at the ground and when he’s ready to pitch he picks up his head and turns and stares down the batter, a very menacing and intimidating look. I notice it now everytime I see him pitch, if you ever watch him take a look- wouldn’t it just freak you out if you were the batter?

Well I guess you could tell I enjoyed watching the Sox sweep the Yankees.

Baseball has really been a favorite sport of mine, I remember back when my neighbor and good friend Dave introduced me to the sport and eventually got me to play little league (a comical attempt at that). The love for the sport was revived with NESN in our dorm rooms and lots of fellow students who loved the Sox.

Makes me wanna pick up a bat and pick up a sport again. Hell I need a side activity right?

Tags: adams morgan, alex rodriguez, andruw jones, baseball, blog, braves, chase wright, chipper jones, costco, daisuke matsuzaka, derek jeter, dupont circle, eden center, girls, holidays, j.d. drew, jason varitek, john smoltz, jonathan papelbon, julian tavarez, mike lowell, nationals, red sox, seven corners, yankees