EDITOR’S NOTE: Avenue Q is coming back to Boston on November 17-22.  If you haven’t seen it, I can’t recommend it highly enough. Seriously.

“Pedro is probably the smartest pitcher I’ve faced in my career.”

Derek Jeter, postgame 10/29/2009

After the Red Sox got eliminated, it virtually ended the baseball season for me.  Sure I was watching bits and pieces, but I didn’t/couldn’t watch every inning.  Well, a funny thing happened yesterday.  I was drawn back in.  I must have checked the clock a hundred times all day, waiting for 7:57pm.

With Pedro on the hill, it actually felt like I was watching a Red Sox game.  The visage was the same but the vintage and vetements were not.  I hung on pins and needles during each and every pitch he threw.  It was a party like 1999, with old familiar #45 on the bump and the dreaded Yankees flailing away at his (much slower) pitches.

All things considered, I think he pitched valiently.  Charlie Manuel (who tried to party like it was 2003) did his best Grady Little impression sending Pedro out to start the 7th inning.  After 99 pitches, every Red Sox fan knew it was time to go to the bullpen.  I don’t know what it is about Pedro, but he possesses Jedi mind powers that can convince managers to leave him in the game too long.

I guess this all speaks to the the type of transcendent player he is.  He single-handedly restarted the baseball season even though my team wasn’t playing.  I don’t think any other player in baseball could have had this type of effect on me.  He’s the best pitcher I will ever see in my lifetime and in my mind will forever be a Red Sox.

Have a great weekend, everyone!  Make the most of every day.

Pedro Martinez once said he would “rather win one ring with Boston than three rings with someone else.”

Well Petey, you have your one with Boston.

Go out and get one more.

Hi!

Remember me?  If not, my name is Mike. Welcome (or welcome back) to my blog, Truth About Mike.  This is the place where I wax poetic about whatever happens to be trickling through my ADD-positive, sports-infested mind.  Do poke around and stay awhile. Take a look at my wicked fantastic, awesome banner. It was made by my super-talented, Pittsburgh Steelers loving (I don’t even hold this against her) friend, Lindsay.

Yesterday was a day where there was a number of different things I could have written about.  First off, it was October 27th which is the day when all Red Sox fans’ lives were changed forever.  I still remember that magical ride like it was yesterday.  Sitting in Yankee Stadium (a.k.a. The Toilet) for the 7th game of the 2004 ALCS was a memory I’ll never forget.  Just seven days later, the Red Sox won their first World Series in 86 years.  10/27/2004 was a good, no, GREAT time.

I also could have written about how it was my mother’s birthday or how it was the first day of the Celtics season, or how it was the debut of the ‘Sheed-fro.  If I was a super geek, I could have written about how I was re-tweeted by ESPN’s Amy Nelson yesterday.  I didn’t write about any of those things because I am trying to dial things back a bit.   I don’t want to get burned out on the keyboard.

Instead of all those cool things, I am writing about my experience with Craigslist.  Yesterday on my second attempt, I sold my dining room table set.  Even though there has been no new news on the move (uh-oh) or the house (GRRRRRRRRRRR!), I have been slowly getting rid of stuff.  I am quite the pack rat.  One example of this is that I had every wedding invitation and program from every wedding I went to over the past five years.  I never threw these things away because I always felt like it would be bad karma for the couple to do so.

Yeah, I have issues.

(We know this.)

Anyhoo, the first time I tried to sell the table set it sucked.  I set up three appointments for people to come take a look and none of them showed.  This time, I made four appointments.  My first one (yesterday afternoon) was a no-show.   Thankfully, I made another one for the evening.  When this couple showed up, they were the 5th scheduled party to see the table, but the first people to actually see it.

Long story endless, they absolutely loved the table.  They gave me the amount of money I put in the ad (without trying to haggle) and we had a deal.  After helping them get it into their pickup truck, they said they wanted to give me more money.  They had been searching for a table and felt that it was worth more than I was charging.

These kind folks didn’t have to give me more money, but they felt like it was the right thing to do.  I loved that table and I love the fact that it is going to a good home even more.

Stories like this are the reason I am as optimistic as I am.  They are constant reminders that reaffirm my faith in humanity.

I just had to post this picture.  I’m sure most of you have seen it by now.  I’m a big fan of standing out in a crowd.  You’ll never be memorable in life if you blend into your surroundings.  Here, Mr. Brady does just that.  He stands out amongst his peers.

I’ve received a lot of message asking what’s up with the blog.  Nothing is wrong, I just haven’t really felt like writing much lately and have taken a little break.  I am going to continue writing, but I am going to dial it back a bit.  I’ll have a new entry posted before Wednesday morning.

Thanks for checking in everyone!

Happy Five Year Anniversary, Yankees!

EDITOR’S NOTE: Happy Birthday Tony!

1) Sorry for the lack of posts this week.  I’ve been feeling under the weather and also been busy building my helium-filled balloon aircraft.  I’ve also been meaning to post about my new favorite musical artist/album.  Stay tuned for both.

2A) Two great moments from the Conan O’Brien show for you:

The band Anvil from the movie Anvil: The Story of Anvil made their network television debut on the show last week.  The DVD also came out last week and if you haven’t seen it, definitely check it out.  It is my favorite movie of 2009.

2B) Ken Jeong was on the show the other night.  I simply cannot stop watching the first part of the clip (first three minutes, up until 4:30 remaining) and I must have seen it at least 30 times by now. It is funny for two reasons: his fabulous entrance and the fact that he calls Serena Williams the “goddess of rage.”

Tre-mendous!

3) Heading on Route 128 North just before exit 33B, if you look off to the right you can see the Boston skyline.  33B just happens to be my exit to get home if I am coming from the south.  Most days you can see it without any problem.  Even at night it is pretty well illuminated.

Whenever I am coming up Route 128, I always look for the skyline just before exiting the highway.  The other day I noticed that I always do this (without fail) and wondered why.  I surmised that I always check to see if the city is still there.  Looking for it somehow keeps me grounded (my “Lost-esque” constant, if you will) and is one of those familiar reminders that I’m home and all is well.

Have a great weekend everyone. Make the most of every day!

As a sports fan, it’s the sound you never want to hear.  It is a sound that really isn’t a sound at all.  It is better defined as a lack of sound.  It happens when your team’s playoff run ends in their home stadium/arena/ballpark.

It is the sound of silence.

Waking up today, I had real high hopes for the day.  After two anemic performances in the OC, I didn’t have high hopes for the Red Sox to win the World Series.  I did however, like their chances in Fenway Park for Games Three and Four of the ALDS.  While the Patriots have always had trouble in Denver, I really wasn’t sold on the 2009 Denver Broncos.  Denver’s 4-0 record consisted of wins over Cincinnati (a game they really should have lost), Cleveland, Oakland and the very shaky Dallas Cowboys.

For eight innings in Fenway, sitting out in the bleachers, it was a good day.  The weather was perfect.  It was a picturesque, fall New England day.  The sun was out and there was a slight chill in the air.  The Sox appeared to be well on the way to cutting Anaheim’s two game series lead in half.  Things looked good.  Life seemed good.

Then in one fell swoop, the day was Papelboned.  I know it is unfair to pin this type of loss on one player, but I’m going to do it anyway.  The biggest goat horns of the day belong to Papelbon.  His outing was almost a microcosm of his whole season.  All year, he epitomized the term “heart-attack” closer.  He welcomed inherited runners to home plate with open arms.  There is no riverdancing around it, while his numbers may look decent – this was not a good year for the man with the self-given, unoriginal nickname.

(I’m going to take it a step further:  Knowing full well this will sound reactionary, I predict that today was Papelbon’s last day as the closer of the Boston Red Sox.  He will be either moved to the starting rotation or traded.  Time will tell.)

Papelbon proceeded to throw about 217 consecutive fastballs to propel the Angels to the American League Championship Series.  He also brought the sound back to Boston.  It was the sound that the Carolina Hurricanes and Orlando Magic danced to earlier in the year.  This time the sound wasn’t in the New Garden; It had found its way to Fenway Park.

The sound only lasted for a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity.  The Angels danced and the locals bit their tongues.  It was the same sound heard in Fenway Park after Game 3 of the 2005 Division Series.  It is the worst sound a sports fan can hear.

After the game, I had plans to watch the Patriots game at a nearby friend’s apartment.  The timing was perfect.  Her place was walking distance from the ballpark.  There was probably no better way to erase the memory of the sound then by watching the Patriots with some good friends.  Even though they (and Mr. Brady) also laid an egg, just being together lifted my spirits.  It’s tougher to mope in numbers.

Walking through Kenmore Square after the Pats game, the sound lingered in the background.  The usual gameday hustle and bustle had ended.  It was quiet.  It was an eerie, end-of-the-season quiet.  A few late-leaving, bar-hopping stragglers meandered by and the sound began taking its residence in Kenmore for the long, cold winter ahead.

The Red Sox begin their postseason journey tonight.

11 wins to glory.

Either way, hopefully we don’t see this guy again:

Go Red Sox!

EDITOR’S NOTE: Congrats to Phil and Sara for the hatching of their new daughter, Vivienne!

to remember. Cause it may not last forever.

During our tailgate Sunday, my cousin Euell remarked that it was going to be a good day because “everything was falling into place.”  He was right.  The tailgate was one of our best ever.  We got to the stadium early, the weather was great, and sandwiched amidst a myriad of laughs, we feasted on lobster.  The game itself was an extension of the tailgate.  It was a very good day.

From my perspective, Euell could have been talking about this whole week.  This is will probably end up being one of those weeks I remember for a long, long time.

These are the days to hold on to. Cause we won’t, although we’ll want to.

The fun continued Monday when I visited Phil and Sara at Beth Israel Hospital (where I was also born, btw) to see the aforementioned new baby.  I don’t think I could be happier for them.  I’ve said this before, but I’ve watched Phil go from bloody noses to being a bloody (English meaning, not literal) father.  I always love seeing a baby on the day it is born.  It’s so new and it’s easy to picture the many great days that lie ahead.  I love seeing the joy overcome the fatigue that all people face on that first day as a parent.

The birth of Phil’s first child has hit me with a completely unexpected, yet completely pleasant state of bliss.  I guess BFF+baby will do that.

Sometimes it’s so easy to let a day, slip on by. Without even seeing each other at all.

Last night, the epic week continued.  I had dinner with a dear friend.  I hadn’t seen her in about two years and we picked up like it was yesterday.  We keep in touch with email and an occasional text, but it’s not the same.  It was one of those nights: where three hours goes by like three minutes, where because of all our gabbing, our food became cold before we finished it, and where the miles that separate us were finally overcome.  It was one of those nights where I missed the best baseball game of the season, missed a ton of texts remarking about it, and I don’t regret it one bit.

Let’s not wait two years until our paths cross again, MMFLE.

Some day we will both look back, and have to laugh.

My plans for the rest of the week will continue the week’s trend.  Tonight, drinks with a newer friend are on the docket.  I am really looking forward to it because he is someone who looks at things in a manner very similar (eerily similar, even) to the way I do.  The similarities in our outlooks never cease to amaze me.

This is the time. But time is gonna change.

The tail end of the week consists of watching some playoff baseball and culminates with a Sox/Pats doubleheader on Sunday.  There is nothing like fall in New England.  The leaves are turning and the air outside has a cool, crisp bite.  It is even better when the Red Sox are in the playoffs and the Pats are playing well.

These are the days to hold on to.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Monday’s are always better after the Patriots win.

On April 15th, the Red Sox were 2-6 and I predicted (on Facebook) that they would win 95 games this season.  While I was mocked when I said it, yesterday’s win put their final record at….

(drum roll please)

95-67

As a public service, here are the times for the first round playoff games:

Game 1 – Thursday 9:37pm

Game 2 – Friday 9:37pm

Game 3 – Sunday 12:07pm

Thankfully, there is no conflict on Sunday with the Patriots game (4:15pm at Denver).

I’d also post the time for Game 4 (8:37pm, next Monday), but I don’t think it will be necessary.  Defeating the Los Angeles Awesome Angels of All-Around Anaheim in the first round has become tradition around these parts.  It’s like getting a first round bye.

The times for the next two rounds will not available until the proceeding series are completed.  But just so you know, the World Series will go into November for the first time ever this year.

With all of this in mind, I am advising all my fellow Red Sox fans to get to bed early each night this week.  We’re not going to be sleeping on our normal schedules until mid-November, so you might as well get some rest now.

While you still can.