Hello guys,

This is my first blog post, as is blatently obvious by the fact that there are no others visable.  Hopefully this blog will be a little bit entertaining, and maybe even a little enlightening as well (although I severely doubt my ability to enlighten the masses.)

Monday night, as the sports media has driven into our heads, the Red Sox played host to the dreaded, hated New York Yankees for the first in what will be approximately 500,000 meetings this season (either that or 19 games, maybe it just seems like so many with the unbalanced schedule).  Going into Monday, the masses of Red Sox Nation were in full-fledged panic mode.  Living in Rhode Island and having little to do but listen to sports radio all day, I heard all the complaints and suggestions fans have for the Red Sox, ranging from sending career .300 hitter Mark Loretta to the minors to trading Josh Beckett back to Florida for Hanley Ramirez.  I looked at the calendar.  Yup May 1st, the Red Sox were in first place, and yet they somehow weren't doing anything right.

All the panic changed, however, with one quick trade.  The Red Sox reacquired backup catcher Doug Mirabelli, and an entire region rejoiced.  Yup, that's right.  A backup catcher would right all the wrongs with the Red Sox.  Suddenly, the critical phone calls stopped.  The fans couldn't care less about the struggles of the Red Sox, Doug Mirabelli was back in town.  People started calling sports radio stations to praise the greatness that is Doug Mirabelli, with his .239 career average and his incredible ability to catch Tim Wakefield's nasty knuckleball.  It's the knuckleball catching, in many minds, that makes Mirabelli almost a diety in these parts.  In a rather rediculous scene, Mirabelli sprinted out of a police cruiser in full uniform just minutes before game time, and Fenway Park erupted.  Yes, the fans were thrilled over a backup catcher.  Around game time, my mother called me on my cell phone screaming "Dougie's back!  Dougie's back!"  I guess I should explain that my mom has some sort of crush on Doug Mirabelli.  Dad should watch out if any pudgy backup catchers move in next door. 

I know I'm not the only one to express this thought, but this could only happen in Boston.  The Red Sox were struggling to score runs?  Johnny Damon with his new Pokemon-style haircut was in town?  Nobody cared.  Doug Mirabelli was back, and he healed the ills of Red Sox Nation.