Green envy

By Eric Wilbur

October 1, 2005

1 minute to read

So, how you all enjoying that Cleveland-Chicago game on TV?

Way to go, Fox.

— We expected to see a complete sea of green in the center field bleachers this afternoon, where in the section directly to the right the daytime tarp, the Sox were planning to hand out green t-shirts to fans seated there in order to combat the blinding effects on Randy Johnson’s pitches. Yet, there are only about five or six rows of folks wearing them.

— Alex Rodriguez’s 48th home run in the top of the fifth inning allowed him to overtake the AL lead from David Ortiz. It was the third homer of the day off Tim Wakefield (Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield had the others), the most he has allowed in a game since a 7-6 win against the Devil Rays on Aug. 31. The seven earned runs he has allowed are the most since allowing the same number against the White Sox over 6 2/3 in July.

Wakefield’s five-inning stint was his shortest since Aug. 18 at Los Angeles.

— The air has really been taken out of the crowd here at Fenway. When it appeared as though Johnson might have had a problem locating his control in the second inning with Edgar Renteria at the plate in the second inning with the bases loaded, the fans smelled blood. But since then it has been all Yankees, and the fandom has reacted like it knows it.