Media-crity

A big congratulations to my own personal MVP, Dustin Pedroia for being officially recognized as the MVP of the American League.

So I guess Evan Grant is feeling pretty silly today, huh?

I was obsessively checking various websites all day and when it finally showed up as confirmed on redsox.com, you should have seen the grin on my face. Why, it was like this! (incidentally, this is the 4th time I’ve posted this picture)

First Red Sox win since Mo Vaughn in 95, the 10th Red Sox player to get one overall, and only one of three players to win consecutive ROY and MVP honors.

I’m so proud of him!

Now that the other election is over, it’s time to focus on baseball awards!

Congratulations to Dustin Pedroia for receiving a Gold Glove for his work at 2nd this season. Look at that winning form!

Next stop: MVP!

Even if I’m not engaging in my patented celebratory dancing and cheering, rest assured, on the inside, I’m happy for you. Really. It hurts a little, but I can be mature about this and say good job. Also, you crushed the Rays so good on you for that! My post-season goal of knowing, if not seeing, that Upton is somewhere crying like Jeter, has been realized.

So strap on your goggles, pop the champagne, and go to town. You deserve it.

Lisa has thrown down the gauntlet, suggesting that we (the people whose blogs she reads) make an effort to post about 10 things on a topic every week.

This week is 10 Favorite Websites. For me, this changes a lot depending on what I’m obsessing over.

1. Universal Hub: Adam, the webmaster, combs a ton of RSS feeds looking for interesting, breaking, quirky stories about Boston. It’s the first place I check when something breaks because it gives me what people are saying, not just the quick hit blurb the mainstream news has. There’s a real community feel there that makes it more personal than going to boston.com or WBZ’s website which, most of the time, doesn’t even have the story up right away. I also enjoy his snarky headlines/comments on some of the stories.

2. Facebook: Enough said. I can’t get enough of finding out when my friends are making dinner or going out or using the bathroom!

3. Twitter: Like Lisa, I was suspicious of Twitter. It seemed pointless. But now, especially with the search feature, I’m a convert. Plus it’s nice to have somewhere to make a note of odd things I might encounter but don’t know who to tell, like the man riding a unicycle like a road bike a few weeks ago.

4. Center Field: A fantastic Sox blog with a plethora of Pedroia-related posts. That gets an A+ in my book.

5. Call of the Green Monster: He’s been on hiatus since August but it’s still full of side-splitting baseball-related (okay, mostly Sox-related) parody stories. I was going to link my favorite post but I couldn’t pick one, so go read all of them.

6. GMail: I love love love GMail because I was able to link it to my home email, allowing me to check all my email accounts in one place AND not have to deal with my hosting provider’s crappy webmail anymore. The search function is phenomenal. And it has gchat.

7. Goodreads: I’m not as active on Goodreads anymore but I do go back from time to time. I love being able to go back and see what I’ve read or what I thought about a certain book.

Flannery’s book montage

Powered by Goodreads.com

(this is getting hard)

8. Pandora: Streaming radio that plays songs based on a particular artist. I’ve had great luck finding songs this way.

9. Extra Bases: Boston.com’s Red Sox blog.

10. Group Recipes: They call it a Food Social Network but I call it a damn fine way to store recipes, and find new ones. The best part is the tag system, which is true of so much of the internet. You can search by flavor, season, cuisine, anything.

Okay so I lied. More baseball. I spent some time today reflecting on how incredible this team is and how proud I am to support them, win or lose.

First, there was this: the ad in the Globe after the sellout record was broken. Seeing all those moments and memories and asides listed in one place reminded me why, through the pre-2004 heartbreak and the post-2004 and -2007 bandwagon (ooh dirty word!) expectations, I have never given up on this team. Why I named my first car Pedro. It’s more than Papelbon getting it done, more than rings, more than rolling rallies or trophies. It’s being part of the year-round dedication and the community and the mutual affection between the team and the fans. It’s the late nights and the 2 Diet Cokes at 10 pm that, in the end, don’t matter if they win or lose because that’s not what it’s always about.

Not that it isn’t that much better when they do win. Ahem.

And, while I have love for the entire team, every last one of them, it’s no secret that my heart and attention belong to one little pony. So, in closing, I present the Top 10 Reasons I’m Proud to Rock the #15 Jersey:

1. He gave back the last two years of his ASU scholarship so they could recruit more pitchers. And, in typical Pedroia fashion, he shrugs it off as no big deal, saying that he knew the team could only get better if they could recruit more pitchers.

2. The story of his first meeting with his coach at ASU, in his cut-off white undershirt and his gun show.

3. Playing out the season and postseason with a broken hand and, again, shrugging it off with “Eh, I just changed my grip on the bat, made some adjustments.”

4. In contrast to 1 and 3, his cocky attitude just kills me every time. He truly believes he can hit every single pitch out there. He believes he’s the greatest. “The strongest 160-pound player in the league, right here!” indeed. See also, from ESPN magazine:

Now Pedroia hops up the dugout steps and shouts in Millar’s direction: “Hey, 2004 was like 20 years ago! And all you did was walk! Mariano let four fly! It was not, like, some 12-pitch at-bat!” Pedroia imitates Millar’s stance in that critical Game 4 moment against the Yankees, with the Red Sox three outs away from elimination. He mimics the way Millar steps in the bucket. He does it four times. “Ball 1, Ball 2, Ball 3, Ball 4,” he says. “That’s all you did.” Millar isn’t even paying attention.

5. Continuing on that theme: his swing. He puts everything he’s got into it, wringing his body like a dishrag by the time he finishes the follow-through.

6. The Ping-Pong Championships with Youk and Lowell.

7. The infamous story of the mystery fan who asked him to sign the ball “Dustin Pedroia 2007 ROY” early into the 2007 season when his stats were in the sub-basement.

8. His relationship with Tito and the rest of the guys. I’m a sucker for the genuine affection they have for each other and for him. He and Tito play cribbage every day! How cute is that?

9. This season, opposing teams grew to fear him as much, if not more, than Big Papi himself.

10. This smile right here:

He just loves this freakin game and he shows it day in and day out.

11. BONUS! This GIF:

As much fun as he has playing, he expects the very best of himself and it shows. He seems like a great mix of lighthearted, childlike glee and hardworking dedication to his craft.

Tomorrow, I swear, the story of how I got the crap scared out of me at Downtown Crossing by a guy in a Jason mask on my way home Sunday and a showcase of three awesome artisty people who make awesome things that you should buy.

From what felt like calling up little leaguers to fill in the holes due to injury and illness, to late night miracles, to Manny Being Manny, to Manny Being An Asshole, to Manny Being A Dodger. From tall, leaping, high-five catches to little ponies. From blown saves to unreal comebacks. From bottomless slumps to grand slams. From the beginning this season to that out at 2nd, this has been an exhilarating ride with the best team in baseball.

Thanks, guys. I wouldn’t trade a second of it. See you in April.

(PS: Philly, give Upton hell for us.)

Oh go play in traffic, TBS. Guy knocks it out of the park in the #2 spot on his first at-bat and all you can do is comment on the strategy of taking down ‘the littlest guy on the field’? It WAY old now.

Know what’s not old, though? Steve Harvey. Teehee. Dumbasses.

For those of you not obsessed with baseball– who have probably given up reading my blog at this point, actually– TBS had a power outage issue last night and fans tuned in to watch a 10 minute “blooper” show followed by an episode of the everyone’s favorite classic TV show: The Steve Harvey Show. Yeah. There was a lot of screaming.

Whatever happens, I’m already crying. This is incredible.

I cannot BREATHE. I am shaking.

COME ON, BABY. YER UP. DO IT.

You can blow all the positive hot air you want now but we will never make up. It’s over.

Oh, okay. Whew. Back to normal with the 3 Manny mentions in as many minutes, topped with a few Lowell comments. Thanks.

I am done with this game. I’m either watching Gossip Girl or going to bed.

I made threatening gestures at my TV when that ball sailed over Pedroia’s head, just DARING them to say something about his height. And they didn’t. So thank you.

That being said, guys. Come on. Yer killin me.

This is how I’ve spent most of the night. Except I finished that bottle around the end of the 8th and then opened a can.

I’ve also been twittering up a storm, which is kind of fun. Those who follow me, this is what’s up with the constant stream of tweets with #redsox in them

I am so, so tired. Good day, though. Thwarted attempt to get apples (well, apples that had been made into donuts) followed by a trip to Chili’s with some friends who just moved to the area. Lots of laughing and waitress ineptitude.

I was out of Diet Coke and when the Rays got up 4-3, I knew I had to make an emergency S&S trip. Got to S&S in time to hear that the Rays were up 5-3. Bought a 12-pack and a 20oz. Cracked open the 20oz in the car, still in my jersey and hat, took a few hearty swigs, got home and had this conversation.

Nate: What did you do, drink one in the car!?

Me: …yeah, I got a 20oz, why?

Nate: It’s tied up!

And then Bay got his solo homer. Awwwwww yeeeeaaaaaaaah.

Dear TBS:

SHUT UP about Pedroia’s size. In ONE at bat you made FOUR COMMENTS about how his “size belies his power.” How does that make sense!? He’s 5′9″, not 3′6″ and he’s quite capable of hitting the ball, as he has proven! This is not new information! It’s October and he’s been on the team for two years now. Everything you could say about his height, sensical or non, has been said. FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO TALK ABOUT YOUR UNCREATIVE JACKHOLES.

While you’re at it, yes, Lester is a cancer survivor. That’s pretty friggin awesome and he’s a great guy but maybe, MAYBE, do you think he’d like to be applauded for other things? Like being a top-notch pitcher? Again, FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO TALK ABOUT.

I hate postseason coverage. I hate you all. I wish you were a separate audio track that I could mute. You are ruining baseball.

Hate always,

me.

This has been a CRAZY night and I haven’t stopped shaking yet.

I just wish I could watch these games on NESN with Don and Jerry. I cannot handle the TBS announcers. They ruin the game for me because I spend more time yelling at them than the TV. And everyone knows that armchair coaching is what wins games.

That at my patented hat/jersey/diet coke combo. Which would explain the shaking right now.

I’m not sleeping tonight, am I? But man, what a ride. NEXT! TO FLORIDA!

HE GOT A HIT IN THE SERIES. I JUST REALIZED THAT I’VE BEEN HOLDING MY BREATH FOR 4 GAMES.

Also, this needs to happen again. C’mon. Make it happen tonight.