Memorial Day weekend memory

Last year, our holiday weekend was highlighted by preparing a meal for the families staying at the Ronald McDonald House and listening to Roy Halladay's perfect game, old-school style, on a radio.

Little did we know that a week later Trent would be born and that this year we wouldn't be able to do the Ronald McDonald House meal again. But we are preparing a kiddie's meal - Trent's first birthday party next weekend.

Halladay is scheduled to pitch this afternoon. With the Nationals hitting .229 for the season, I think there's a chance he'll repeat last year's performance.

Sorry, Joe Wolf's Vertical Jump.

The indoctrination has begun

We decided that we won't pressure Trent. If he wants to be a Phillies fan, fine. If he wants to be a Red Sox fan, fine. If he wants to be both, fine. If he wants to root for a random team, we'll deal with it. If he wants to root for the Mets, Yankees or just not like baseball ... then our house will be a little less happy.

To that end, we decided we will try to keep things even between Red Sox and Phillies items in his room. Before he arrived, there was a Red Sox book and a Phillies book waiting for him.

And two weeks ago, he finally got his first garb. His aunt got him his first Red Sox tee. Literally. It says "My First Red Sox Tee." It will look great on him next year. He also got a teething towel. He's not yet teething, so I just dust his face with it to tickle him and get him used to the logo.

Shortly after he got his Red Sox shirt, one of Christine's colleagues got him a Ryan Howard shirt. It's a little big on him, but it's close enough to pose for a picture just like his Daddy.

Because of the shirt, Christine has dubbed Howard Trent's favorite player.

When we went to the game on Aug. 22, our first since Trent arrived , we wanted to bring him back a little Phanatic doll, but they only have big ones, and because they're not baby safe, we decided not to get one. Instead, we brought him back a Phanatic book - The Phillie Phanatic's Parade of Champions.

He seems to like it.

Now we just have to find Wally the Green Monster's account of the 2004 parade.

Tonight's games: The Phillies are off, but they were rebroadcasting Roy Halladay's perfect game. It started when Trent's bed time was approaching, so we didn't miss the beginning because we were taking a walk.

The Red Sox are off, too.

Business-persons special

Despite some teasing threats to Christine, Trent and I didn't sneak off to the park for today's business-persons special against the Astros. It was also "kids run the bases," and Trent and I promised to bring home a scoopful of dirt from the infield.

We also, despite Trent's pleading, did not blow off our liquid lunch for some filet mignon to watch the game at the neighborhood steakhouse.

We just watched the game from Trent's blanket on the living room floor. It was very odd watching a Phillies game in the middle of the afternoon without Christine, especially when it marked the first time they've ever been swept in a four-game series at Citizens Bank Park.

It was fun watching the Roy Halladay perfect game tribute. It was a bit overblown and campy, but good mental mush for me and the boy. Christine would have liked seeing Carlos Ruiz get home plate. I couldn't decide whether I was touched or freaked out by the bronze casts of Doc's hand that was given to his sons. Maybe I'm just jealous because I don't think anyone will bronze my hands and stick them to a keyboard for Trent.

With no reason for Christine to watch the replay of today's game, we have the Twins-Rangers game on. Christine noticed that Trent was focusing on the game. We fear that he's now a Twins fan. As long as he doesn't root for a team with N and Y on its hat, we'll deal with it.

Voter fatigue

Red Sox fans are notorious ballot stuffers, but not this year.

I cannot believe it, but it looks like that no Red Sox will start the game that will determine whether the World Series starts in Philadelphia or Boston.

I guess I can't really complain because we've been a bit spoiled in recent years. (Jason Varitek, a manager/player/coach pick in 2008, is one of the worst selections ever.) And although I filled out a handful of ballots at the park, I haven't filled out any online yet. {Greg and I must have different definitions of "handful." We've filled out quite a few ballots at the games we've gone to this spring.}

That said, I can't explain some of these results:

Kevin Youkilis, the best first baseman in the game, is a distant fourth in the voting. Victor Martinez, who should not be ahead of Joe Mauer, also should not be behind Jorge Posada. David Ortiz's slow start and recent slump probably warrant his first vacation since 2003, but there's no way he should trail Hideki Matsui and the retired Ken Griffey Jr. (At least Papi has passed Pat Burrell in DH voting.)

If there's a silver lining, maybe it's a sign that some of the newcomers are jumping off the Red Sox bandwagon. Or maybe the real fans are just tired of stuffing the box.

Tonight's games: Both our teams are off, but we have baseball on: MLB Network's two-hour special on perfect games. Have I mentioned that I love this channel? Excellent - they showed Carl Everett break up Mike Mussina's shot at a perfect game as a pinch-hitter with just one out to go. I remember watching that game in my apartment. It was on ESPN.

Rest in peace: Oscar Azocar died. For some reason, he always stuck out in my mind. Probably because of his name, I always kind of liked him despite his Yankee-ness.

Reliving perfection

Because the Red Sox spent their Memorial Day off, watching Casey Kelly pitch for Portland and the second-place Phillies continue to struggle (9-3 loss to the temporarily first-place Braves), all we can do is bask in the glory that is Roy Halladay.

This morning we watched his perfect game. Six whole minutes of it:



Tonight, we may watch the extended version as Comcast SportsNet is replaying the game. Our apologies to the Flyers, playing Game 2 of the finals tonight. It's scoreless in the first period.

We're also considering buying tickets to Roy Halladay's big game. No, we're not. We think this idea - the Marlins are selling unused tickets for Saturday's game at regular price - is stupid. You were either one of the 25,000 who were there, or you weren't. At first I was considering ripping the Marlins over this, but Christine convinced me that they're just taking advantage of people's stupidity. Go capitalism, I guess.

Perfect day

A week ago, we, well, I was disappointed that Daisuke Matsuzaka didn't pitch a no-hitter against the Phillies. But it was an odd no-hit attempt. He struggled, and it was just kind of boring and uncomfortable.

There was none of that uneasiness tonight. Harry Leroy Halladay III was efficient and dominant as he pitched the 20th perfect game in major league baseball history, joining Jim Bunning as the only Phillies pitchers with perfectos.

Congrats to the Doc. Is there anything he can't do, besides handle the Red Sox?

We were able to watch, or at least listen to, just about every one of Halladay's 115 pitches in the 1-0 win over the Marlins. (Josh Johnson also pitched well, giving up an unearned run in seven innings.)

Before Halladay took the hill, we spent the day running to a bunch of stores and boiling enough macaroni to feed the SoxandPhils (we were preparing for dinner tomorrow at the Ronald McDonald House).

Among good but not perfect highlights of the day:

At a pet store, Christine saw a bulldog checking into their little hotel-esqe kennel. She thinks he smiled at her and that he looked like the currently unemployed Elvis - err, check that. Elvis is now a West Coast doggie because Pat Burrell signed a minor league deal with the Giants.

Later, we couldn't decide whether to take a walk because the Phillies game was coming on. We decided to walk and broke out the portable radio for the first time. It was neat listening to the game, although the houses we passed seemed more focused on the Flyers game than the Phillies. Understandable at the time, I guess.

Other games: Clay Buchholz was not perfect but pitched pretty well and beat Zack Greinke and the Royals by a 1-0 score. (The run was earned.)

The Flyers are losing to the Blackhawks 5-4 in the second period of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals.