Ninety-nine-year-old Arthur Giddon served as ceremonial bat boy. His 100th birthday is today and there were moments when we all wondered if the Sox and Yanks might still be playing when Arthur hit the century mark.
The Sox won this one despite trailing A.J. Burnett, 6-0, after 3 1/2 innings. They won it because Jason Varitek hit a grand slam and Mike Lowell knocked in six runs and the Boston relievers were a lot better than the raging bullpen from New York.
In two games, the Sox and Yanks have used 24 pitchers who have given up 55 hits and 28 walks. There have been eight blown leads.
Some call it brutal. Some call it beautiful. Everyone calls it time-consuming.
"Long games," Sox manager Terry Francona said after looking at his watch at the start of his postgame news conference. "A lot of pitching changes. A lot of runs. A lot of commercials. This will certainly age you."
Just ask Mr. Giddon, who went the distance from a box seat by the Yankees dugout. He was on his feet with the rest of the 37,699 when Jonathan Papelbon retired Robinson Cano for the final out.
Nobody ever leaves these games. If you do, you might miss Jason Bay's two-run, two-out tying homer Friday night. Or you might miss a comeback from 6-0.
But it was tempting. When the Yankees blew out to that 6-0 lead against Josh Beckett (what's up with him?), a few of us were ready to bolt Fenway for the ever-annoying CBS Scene and some old-fashioned war room/on-the-clock NFL draft talk. But naturally that was only the beginning. The Red Sox came back. And back. And back. Folks from Fox must have been thrilled.
A 302-foot, two-run shot off the Pesky Pole by Cano gave the Yankees a 4-0 lead in the third. Cano struck again with a two-run double in the fourth and it was 6-zip when the Sox came out to face Burnett in the fourth. The air had been sucked out of Fenway. Friday night's game for the ages felt like part of the 1975 World Series.
Then we got some life in the ancient yard. Moments after Bay's bases-loaded single put the Sox on the board, Varitek hit a first-pitch grand slam (from the left side, thank you very much) and it was 6-5.
