It was great follow-up theater for Red Sox Nation, almost enough to make folks forget about closed roadways and train stations for the next four days. The Red Sox officially put the region in a good mood by taking two out of three from the Yankees and creating the illusion of a pennant race in the American League East. Both the Sox and the Yanks got out of town after the game and as the Sox boarded their charter for Baltimore, the Sons of Tito were heard singing, "See You in September."
"I think you always build on a win," said Saturday's homer hero, Bill Mueller, as he packed for the 12-game trip. "You always build on a positive and this is a positive."
Nominee-to-be John Kerry (D-Mass.) arrived in time to throw out the first pitch and was booed as if he were wearing a Yankee jersey. Kerry threw from the grass in front of the mound (sorry, but President Bush fired a strike from the rubber before Game 3 of the 2001 World Series) and his errant throw to war hero Will Pumyea might have hit Alex Rodriguez if A-Rod had been standing in the righty batter's box. Still, Kerry had better stuff than Yankee starter Jose Contreras, who yielded six runs in the first two innings (come to think of it, as good as they are, the Yankees sure have some horsebleep pitchers).
The Henrytown seats were filled with Sox owners and political dignitaries. John Henry, Tom Werner (accompanied by Katie Couric), and Larry Lucchino surrounded Kerry, John Glenn (Ted Williams served as Glenn's wingman in Korea), Joe Biden, and Bob Kerrey. Would-be owner and Bush fan Joe O'Donnell sat in the front row to the left of the Kerry corner.
Along with the other 35,000, they were there to see the Red Sox play with some bounce in their step in the aftermath of Saturday's pulsating, brawl-inspired walkoff win over the Yanks. Unfortunately, the Red Sox in the top of the first inning played as if they'd been out all night partying with the Louisiana and Nevada delegations. Johnny Damon struggled with a couple of routine balls and Derek Lowe fell into a 2-0 hole.
