Forecast is bright

By Eric Wilbur

October 1, 2005

1 minute to read

Perfect may be a term much too overused when relaying the conditions for baseball on any given sun-drenched afternoon, but if today isn’t then there can’t possibly be another forecast that can compete for faultlessness. With temperatures in the upper 60s at Fenway under clear skies, the Red Sox and Yankees completed batting practice and are ready for Game 2 of this three-game showdown for the AL East.

— The media throng on hand here today is a bit less overbearing, yet still packing the boundaries of the Fenway press box. Most of the local and New York nightly news types and such are not here doing live shots for the evening news with a 1:20 start time on tap. Red Sox media relations coordinator Peter Chase said this weekend is the biggest three-game series he could remember for issuing credentials.

— Medford native and ”Access Hollywood” correspondent Maria Menounos was on the field prior to the game. Men’s clotheshorse Joseph Abboud was spotted entering Game D about an hour before game time.

— The Red Sox and Yankees have now played 69 times since the start of the 2003 season, with the Red Sox holding a one-game advantage (35-34), by virtue of their 5-3 win last night. In those 69 games, the Red Sox have a better batting average (.281 to .253), ERA (4.58 to 5.27), more runs scored (390 to 345), more home runs (104 to 81), and have a higher slugging percentage (.467 to .416).