Well, I was worried there for a moment. My boy, my favorite pitcher, my rock in all the storms, gave up two runs in the first and I thought it was all over.
Of course, then Pedroia got things started with a single, and Youk took one to the Monster Seats. Two run shot, Sox suddenly tie the game. Big Papi singled, so did Mikey. Then Bay took one out of the park, a three-run shot and the Sox are in the lead.

We squeaked by again, but we’re getting on base. Which is better than we did in the Angels series. Maybe next game we’ll start scoring more?

Welcome to Boston, Jason Bay. While I will miss Manny’s antics, I’m okay with moving on. Here’s the conclusion of the game: Jed Lowrie hits a sac fly to score Jason Bay. Jed Lowrie hits a single to shortstop, Jason Bay scores. Sounds like a broken record. And I liked how all the guys mobbed them at the end. I finally felt like they were a team again.

Yeah. I think he’ll be okay. He’s glad to be here, too.

“I had a Red Sox onesie when I was growing up,” the British Columbia native told reporters, noting that his father was a diehard Sox fan.

In his bedroom as a kid? Posters of Jim Rice and Carl Yastrzemski.

(see video here.)

Bad news: Mikey hurt himself running out a single in the 10th. Not good. Good news? It doesn’t seem too serious. Papi was a little out of it tonight, but I think he’ll adjust. JD looked fierce, so did Pedroia and our bullpen. (Thank goodness!) More good news is that New York lost again. Bad news? The Rays won.

You know what I heard on the radio today? John Seibel (or his guest host, I don’t remember) said that by trading away Manny, the Sox had traded themselves out of the playoffs. Are you serious? These are the same guys who said before the break that the Yankees wouldn’t be a force this year, only to see the Yanks go on a hot streak. Now they’re saying we won’t get into the playoffs? We have as good a shot now as we had before the deadline. I don’t think one player can make that much of a difference. Not on this team. Take away Manny and we still have the best captain around, JD Drew, red-hot Pedroia, speedy Coco and Ellsbury, beastly Youk, lights-out Lester, Big Papi, and World Series MVP Mikey. Those guys, especially the experienced, veteran players, will not let that happen.

Hey, I think my faith has been renewed…weird.

Manny is gone. Wait, no really. Manny is gone. There will be no more calls from inside the wall, no more antics. And I don’t care. Okay, I care. I’m a little sad, I’m gonna miss the crazy man, but now, at least, we won’t have to deal with it anymore, and I know life will be much easier on Tito.
The only thing I am worried about is Papi. I hope he’s still happy in Boston, but he and Manny were good friends…so I don’t know. Papi, we still love you, and I will absolutely cry if you leave us. Do I think this will help? Probably. We needed a bat to back up Ortiz, we got that, and hopefully we’re done with the antics. At least, the detrimental ones.
I’m interested in what can happen. Right now, I’m in limbo on how I feel about the Red Sox. I agree with what Alex Cora said. They are playing like they don’t have any energy. Maybe some new (and younger) blood will get the Sox moving again. Youk is on a hitting streak, Pedroia is the Destroya, Ellsbury seems to be excelling in his new spot, and JD Drew has been better about not hitting into double plays. We’re still waiting for them to get on a streak, but I always have faith that they will.

So long Manny. I hope you are happy now, because you clearly weren’t happy at Boston. I feel like this will do nothing but good. So here’s to life after Manny, may it go well