More memories from Boston Baseball

Yesterday I mentioned Boston Baseball, the underground Red Sox program that Scott Lauber used to write for.

I didn't mention why I had this issue and why I won't throw it out. I got it during the first real road trip Christine and I took together way back in 1998. We went with some of my friends.

Everyone went to one game, but Christine and I planned to go to a second, which was rained out. There was an afternoon game the day we were leaving, and Christine was good enough to let me scalp tickets to catch the matinee before heading back to New Jersey. It cost me a few bucks plus the tickets for the makeup game.

We sat in cramped seats that faced left field. Christine was uncomfortable. I sat next to a larger woman who kept sitting on my jersey. Although Christine still complains about the experience (here's a link to her explanation), it was one of my favorite experiences at a ballpark until all the great times with the Phillies the last two years.

The reason? It was the first year of Pedro. He was magnificent. The park was colored with Dominican flags and Pedro had a vintage outing: 8 2/3 innings, five hits, one walk and 10 strikeouts. Tom Gordon got the save.

The Red Sox had a seven game lead in the wild card (the division was a lost cause), but it seemed like a playoff game. Yes, that feeling was exceeded by attending the Phillies division clincher in 2007 and the three playoff games we saw in 2008, but the atmosphere was incredible for an August game.

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and other scary stories

Here are some of the scary thoughts I've had about Brad Lidge.

Yes, the surgery was successful, but I don't believe this three- to six-week time frame. Last year Brett Myers was supposed to miss two weeks; he missed two months. He was replacing Tom Gordon, who wasn't supposed to be injured at all but missed more than two months. So by Phillies injury prognosis, does that mean Lidge's three to six weeks translates into three months to the whole season?

I've been joking that the over-under for his return is the All-Star break.

If this injury does put the pen in shambles, will we see another triumphant return to Philadelphia of Jose Mesa? What about Antonio Alfonseca?

Back to Gordon. He had a historic year for the Sox in '98, but I blame him for blowing Game 4 of the ALDS against Cleveland. If he didn't blow that game, Pedro would have won the series the next day. (Christine and I went to see the Barenaked Ladies after the Red Sox lost the afternoon game. Funny I remember that.)

Jim Salisbury's column about Pat Gillick's intrigue with a 134-pound slab of beef did somehow reassure me. I still don't believe Lidge will be pitching for the Phils by early April, but since they weathered so many injuries last year, they'll survive this one too.

This is one big burger:


Keep Bartolo Colon away; he's got to get in shape.