Rout on already

By Eric Wilbur

August 18, 2006

2 minutes to read

We’re back finally after a major connection snafu in the Fenway press box, where wireless has been down since the end of Game 1. I made a game of it at least, waiting to see which would happen first: the ability to connect or my Dell laptop spontaneously bursting into flames. Hopefully we’re on for the duration or this is going to be a really short trip.

For the second straight game, the Yankees are routing the Red Sox, as Jon Lester is taking a beating. Through two innings, the Yanks have scored five times, and the rookie has thrown 58 pitches already, 41 in the second inning alone when the Yankees scored all their runs. Julian Tavarez has already sprinted from the dugout to the bullpen to help pitch in. It could be that kind of night.

Boston scored on Manny Ramirez’s first-inning RBI single, the 1,549th RBI of his career, tying him with Mickey Mantle for fourth on the all-time list.

Great pregame moment on “Jimmy Fund Day” at Fenway. Rich guy Donald Trump threw out the ceremonial first pitch, wearing a jersey with “Jimmy Fund” stitched across the front. Accompanying him was youngster Clay Gill.

That preceded a touching moment when the “Jimmy Fund All-Stars” took the field, as the kids tossed the ball around from around the diamond and outfield, Carl Beane reading their names out one-by-one. A few minutes later, Red Sox players took their own corresponding positions in the field, standing side-by-side with the All-Stars as six-year-old Jordan Leandre, a Jimmy Fund patient, again melted the park as he sang the National Anthem.

There’s usually no cheering allowed in the press box, but you can imagine the ban was unanimously lifted in this instance, of course.

A foul ball off the bat of Jeter hit a fan behind home plate in the second inning, and the Yankee shortstop appeared to be shaken up about it as he waited to dig back in, staring back into the stands at the kid who was hit.

An email from Bill Dedman, managing editor of the Nashua Telegraph, points out: On WEEI, Mike Andrews, chairman of the Jimmy Fund, just said about the kid hit by Jeter’s foul ball, “They really ought to extend that net another section. It’s really deadly.”