I’ve seen it so many times.  I just don’t mean on live TV, SportsDesk highlights or via a Ron Borges article in The Globe either.  I have SEEN it with my very eyes.  Every single time I see it I question my contact lens assisted vision to ensure what I just saw was real.  Is all of this for real?  What are we witnessing here?  How many times can I see, in person, David Ortiz end a game with his bat?  I’m going to re-count the ones I’ve seen with the help of my friends at Boston.com (only because I’m too lazy to pull out my ticket stub collection).

July 26 2003 vs NYY
The first one he pulled off as a member of the Red Sox and versus the Yankees no less.  Who knew that this would be the first brick in the building of a legend.

October 5 2003 vs OAK
This was not a walk-off, but it was the most significant hit of the game.  Bottom of the eighth with two runners on Papi launches a bullet off of Keith Foulke and over Jermaine Dye’s head.  This game winning RBI double forced the deciding Game 5.  It was mayhem in the bleachers.  There were more man hugs being doled out than at a Pride Parade.

October 8 2004 vs ANA
Did Big Papi just win Game 3 of the ALDS?  HE DID!!!!  We’re going to the ALCS baby!  How about we dance around Fenway for the next 90 minutes with about 15K fans?

October 17 2004 vs NYY
It’s 30 degrees in the second to last row of the bleachers.  It’s 1 AM and we’re down 3 games to 0.  Hey Paul Quantrill can you please serve one up to Papi?  He’s got some late night munchies and we’d all like to go home.  Thank you sir.  Well done.

October 18 2004 vs NYY
This was only a single, but in my ever so humble opinion this is the most important one he has ever hit.  After he miraculously muscled a tough pitch into centerfield you got the sense that the Sox were actually going to come back and take the series.

June 24 2006 vs PHI
This was awesome on so many levels.  One, the Phillies fans (most of them) were utterly obnoxious (more on this later) so it was nice to jam one down their throats.  Two, it was Gordon versus Papi.  Everyone knew it was going to happen and I was wrong on one detail.  I figured Papi would torture Gordon by launching it into the Volvo sign again ala Game 5 of the 2004 ALCS.  If that happened Tom Gordon would have driven straight to Maine and shot Steven King for inserting him into a personal, life-long, nightmare.

Those are just the game winners.  I’ve seen countless homeruns and clutch hits over these past three years.  Heck, we’ve been to six games this season and Papi has homered in five.  This entire experience has reached outrageous levels.  The mad Japanese Man, Motoki, is convinced Papi has sold his soul to Beelzebub himself.  I disagree, Satan would never allow one man to bring so much joy to millions of people.  Are you questioning how we have become so blessed?  I’m pinching myself, because I have never seen this before in my entire life.  Not in baseball. 

Phillies Fans

Well good old section 6 had three rows of Phillies fans joining us on Saturday.  I know those guys probably had a long drive up to Boston, but the heat, beer and excessive weight must have gotten to them when they busted out the E A G L E S Eagles!!! chant.  Ummmmm, I’m sure Bobby Abreu was touched by your unconditional support.  What’s wrong with these people?  For starters, you’re at a Phillies game.  I could understand doing it if the Eagles were playing and you heard they scored a touchdown, but it’s June.  Training camp hasn’t started.  Do the Phillies suck that badly?  Secondly, need I remind you that you’re in New England?  Remember?  The home of the team that beat you in the Super Bowl?  Yep, that New England.  Not smart.  Finally, your beloved E A G L E S have laid eggs during their two Super Bowl appearances thus resulting in zero Lombardi Trophies.  It’s as if every blow Rocky took from Clubber Lang effected them as well.  It’s some bizarre ET/Elliot connection.  Here’s my advice.  Next time stifle the vocal apparatus.

World Cup

More crappy refereeing.  What’s new.

However, never in my entire life have I witnessed what I saw yesterday.  Italy, down a man via a red card (crappy ref) is driving to the net with a mere 5 seconds left in extra time and he’s tripped!  The trip wasn’t the worst I’ve seen, but it was as bad as anything else they have called so far.  Never in my life have I seen a match on the line with absolutely no time left.  The tension running through me and P-Cip was too much to handle and then the mad spitter himself, Totti, put it home and the azzurri have a date with the Ukraine.  Finally redemption for a team that got hit with a lousy call (the red card) and was still able to pull it off.  Of course Italy has now been on both sides of the good/bad call spectrum.  Two more weeks.