May 2008
Ho, Hum. Another Opening Day, Another Ring Ceremony
On Tuesday April 8th, two busloads of happy BLOHARDs embarked from Westport, CT to witness their Sox "entertain" the hapless Detroit Tigers in a contest about as suspenseful as your typical Globetrotters v. Washington Generals matchup. Sure enough, the good guys romped 5-0.
Trip highlights included:
| o | Reminiscenses about departed BLOHARDS on the ride up; |
| o | A pre-game ceremony which featured the Boston Pops and the flags of 62 countries which are home to Sox fans. Fredonia was mysteriously unrepresented; |
| o | Billy Buckner throwing out the first pitch amid a heartwarming atmosphere of reconciliation. Word is that after the next two championships (c. 2011), they're bringing Mike Torrez back for the first pitch; |
| o | Manny legging out a triple. The Tiger outfield was so nonplussed that they threw the ball away, affording our hustling hero home plate; |
| o | Matsuzaka dealing; and |
| o | Bracing conditions which rendered pre-game fears of a malaria epidemic laughable. |
More pictures here.
What Does a Fella Have to do to Get a Drink Around Here?
Longtime BLOHARD Herb Wyman, resident of the northern 'burbs is looking for a Sox-friendly watering hole in the Stamford/southern Westchester area. If you've got any thoughts, why not drop him a line, and cc us too while you're at it?
Megamorphs, Dwarves Deplete T-shirt Stocks As Larges Go Begging
(New York, May 23) Laying waste to the BLOHARDS' meticulous planning efforts, freakishly small and large Sox fans have avidly snapped up the organization's "Got Rings Lately?" t-shirts, even as their more conventionally sized bretheren have disdained the shirt all together. As a result, an April month-end audit revealed no (zero, none) small, medium or XXL shirts in inventory even as dozens (many, many dozens) of larges and XLs languished in warehouses across the country.
The situation has been somewhat ameliorated by a rush-restocking of the sold-out shirts, but, in light of the surfeit of slow-moving larges and XLs, frantic efforts are underway to "reposition" the shirt. Ideas being explored include potential bulk sales at Tolkein fan conventions or a serreptitious mass entombment in the new Yankee Stadium.
Incidentally, if we didn't mention it, we've got few things lying around we wouldn't mind selling, including a BLOHARD button down baseball jersey, a pair of stylin' hats, and, oh yeah, those t-shirts.
You can buy it all here.
Spence Shuns Monk, Opens Bin
Roving Correspondent Vern Trotter writes in:
"Ivan Spence, longtime bartender at the Hairy Monk, has opened his own place; Sin Bin, between 58th & 59th on First avenue. He is inviting all Red Sox fans to stop by. He is looking for Sox pennants etc. to put on the walls."
The opening of said Sin Bin has been duly noted in the "Lifelines" section of our website.
Aardsma Honored at April Bash
A rousing welcome for Sox pitcher David Aardsma was just one of the highlights for the 175 or so BLOHARDS and guests who made their way to the Yale Club on April 17th for the first luncheon of the season.
Aardsma was alternately castigated by MC Joe Cosgriff for usurping beloved legend Hank Aaron's place in the all-time, alphabetical list of major league players and acclaimed by the crowd for having "inadvertently" hit A-Rod with a pitch following an intolerable provocation the previous evening. WFAN's Ed Randall did a masterful job of interviewing the personable, not to mention talented, Aardsma.
 |
| Tina Channels Manny |
Other guests included Chris Wertz and triviameister John Quinn, both of Professor Thom's, and jazz crooner John Pizzarelli with lively patter and trivia (Q: Who was the first batter announced by Bob Sheppard in 1951? A: "Number 7, Dominick DiMaggio, Centerfield, Number 7"). Drama Desk Award winner Christine Pedi helped us mark the 100th anniversary of "Take Me Out To the Ballgame" by channelling a Barbra Streisand version of the song.
BLOHARD execs were also in the mix, with Peter Collery debuting the white hot BLOHARDS Spring Fashion line and Ray Duffy having a little fun at the expense of one-time BLOHARD guest Roger Clemens and no-way-in-Hell guest Hank Steinbrenner during the course of the Henry Berry Memorial Slideshow.
The second and final luncheon of the season falls on August 27th, again at the Yale Club. Tickets are available now. We hope to see you there.