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

It’s not that hard to be a Red Sox fan in Washington, DC.

It’s a really great thing to see all the members of Red Sox Nation come out for a game in B’more against the Orioles. That’s where I’ll usually go every year to get my Sox fix. However with inter-league play bringing the Red Sox to Nationals Park this year, it was guaranteed to be a packed game full of all the Sox fans that you’d find at Rhino Bar or Kelly’s Irish Times.

On Tuesday I went with Wendi, Rebecca, and Adam. We had seats out in right field, right by the wall next to the bullpen. We could cheer for J.D. Drew, jeer at Julian Tavarez, and just laugh at the excuse that is the Nationals bullpen. We were so close to the bullpen that I could hear the ringing of the phone used to warm-up and bring in relievers. The phone sounded like a cellphone despite it being a big metal box. The phone was ringing off the hook since the Sox put up 11 runs on the Nats that night- nothing could stop them, the Red Sox even dominated the attendance records, which was broken every night in the series thanks to all the Sox fans which turned Nationals Park into Fenway southeast.

I met up with MeggiePoo towards the end of the game who was busy Tweeting the game from her seats.

Thursday was a different story, I showed up to my company’s suite with Kevin. I got a lot of flack for my Red Sox gear but there were clearly more Red Sox fans in the suite than Nationals fans. It was a quiet game however with future hall of famer John Smoltz making his 2009 season debut with a terrible first inning. The Sox never recovered from the 4 runs he gave up and the Nats went on to dominate. That’s ok though, we still won the series 2 games out of 3. A blogger moment was had when Anderson Hernandez walked up to his favorite song: Stanky Legg. Thanks to LiLu I’ll never listen to that song with a straight face again.

So I got my Sox fix for now, I can’t wait til August however when they come back down to Baltimore, it should be a fun weekend with a bunch of FSC friends coming to visit.

Tags: baltimore, blog, j.d. drew, julian tavarez, nationals, orioles, red sox

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

I just found out that Roger Clemens will be returning to the Yankees when comes back to play baseball this season. He was also considering The Astros, and of course, The Red Sox. While I am very disappointed with his decision, it makes sense. Roger probably sees a challenge in trying to help the last place Yankees (wow I don’t believe I’m saying last place and Yankees). Also the Yankees should of been desperate in trying to court Roger into coming back to the Bronx. I mean look at the Yankees rotation right now, it’s been in shambles all year (when you’re current Ace is Chien-Ming Wang, you have major problems. It’s also a shame that Kei Igawa is imploding- I was trying to root for the fellow Asian, but then again he’s a Yankee so I’m not that sad he’s doing bad.)

So is Roger going to take the Yankees out of the basement? I’m not so sure. I suppose pitching has been the missing element to their game- especially with a powerful line-up such as theirs, but Roger and Andy Pettite are only two parts of a five man rotation. Maybe if Mike Mussina comes back from the DL, then they have something going.

Maybe I’m just sore that Roger didn’t choose the Red Sox, but whatever, we still have a better rotation (sans Tavarez).

Tags: andy pettite, astros, baseball, blog, chien-ming wang, julian tavarez, kei igawa, rants, red sox, roger clemens, yankees

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