A Few Things to Smile About

Last night's Red Sox game was more dramatic than an episode of Jersey Shore.... On second thought, maybe I should bank that analogy for a Sox-Yankee brawl. It's a long season and I don't want to use all my good material on an early game against the Texas Rangers.

Stream of writers consciousness aside, here's my list of a few things to smile about.

1. At some point last night I realized that, if the Sox kept sucking, I might be watching the games alone come August. Let's smile that Boston stopped the losing streak and that this pinkhat might not be so lonely.

2. This doesn't exactly bring smiles to the faces around Fenway, but the Rangers were certainly grinning as they stole nine bases from the Sox, basically making a mockery of Pitcher Tim Wakefield and Catcher Victor Martinez. Even though Wakefield got charged with a balk (tried
to throw out a runner after initiating his pitch), we can smile that at least the Sox started attempting to hold runners (basically tossing the ball around warning runners that an attempt would be made to get them out if they went early) the second half of the game.

3. To quote Project Runway: "One day you're in, the next day your out." This is what makes baseball (and crappy TV fashion?) so exciting. Bill Hall was not exactly eliciting smiles in his past few games filling in for Mike Cameron. Last night, however, his bunt set the Sox up for the win.

4. Dave was switching to the Celtics playoffs on commercials. What self- respecting man, let alone professional athlete, refers to himself as "Ticket Stub" and "Big Baby" in the same sentence, no less. Not sure whether to smile or groan. Okay, scratch number 4, definitely groaning.

5. The last and most obvious. Ever heard of Darnell MacDonald? Now you have, after he hit a two-run homerun to tie up the game and a second to win it.

I bet he's still smiling too.