Blinq

Live 8 Line Up

Live 8 partner AOL has announced the order of the day for broadcast purposes. Things change. But this looks like a plan.

12:04 – Paul McCartney & U2 Live from London

12:14 - Black Eyed Peas

12:33 - Bon Jovi

12:54 – Madonna Live from London

1:00 - Destiny’s Child

1:16 - Kanye West

1:30 -Will Smith

1:50 - Coldplay Live from London

1:56 - Toby Keith

2:13 - Dave Matthews Band

2:40 - Alicia Keys

2:52 - Def Leppard

3:10 - Linkin Park and Jay-Z

3:50 - Tim McGraw Live from Rome

3:56 - Sarah McLachlan

4:11 - Maroon 5

4:28 - Green Day Live from Berlin

4:34 - Keith Urban

4:48 - Jars of Clay

4:56 - Pink Floyd Live from London

5:00 - Rob Thomas

5:21 - Stevie Wonder

Schilling Throws WIP-AM Under the Bus

It's been five years since Curt Schilling pitched for Philadelphia. Hard to believe he can still hate WIP-AM that much.

"Schilling on Philly Chumps" is the headline that the Boston Dirt Dogs blog wrote after the star hurler's regular Tuesday morning call to the Dennis and Callahan show on Boston's WEEI-AM.

"They are some of the biggest pieces of trash," Schilling said of the popular Philadelphia radio station hosts. "To say they are somehow part of sports is giving them way too much credit."

The rehabbing Red Sox ace was just warming up. Listen here starting at minute 9.

"These guys were some of the worst people, and are some of the worst people I've ever met in my life. They have no business being in sports. They have a sports station that tries to be what 'EEI is, and they suck."

He singled out WIP personalities Angelo Cataldi, Howard Eskin and Glen Macnow. "These guys have as much to do with sports as Mother Theresa." He said he was referring in particular to the Philadelphia radio station's treatment of his friend Terry Francona, the Red Sox skipper who used to coach the Phillies.

"It wasn't kind of off-the-cuff, funny criticism. It was bad stuff, horrible stuff." Schilling complained how Cataldi announced he would shoot himself in the head of Francona won the World Series. "I know that they would have sold tickets for that."

"Just gutless people...," he concluded. "They don't talk sports and they don't know sports." Cataldi and Macnow used to be Inquirer sportswriters.

Schilling, the spotlight-grabber who was famously called a horse's ass by Phillies GM Ed Wade, went on to say the Philadelphia fans made it "a phenomenal sports town." He was rarely booed here, he said. "They wanted effort and they wanted passion and they wanted you to be good."

Francona, he said, started off in the hole since fans wanted Larry Bowa, not him, as coach.

He said the Phillies will have to over-pay to sign a free agent comfortable pitching in Citizens Bank Park, unless they deal for a sinkerballer. "Free agents want to go to one of the places where they feel comfortable playing, and that is not one of them."

The blogger Jeffrey Martin at Minutae has weighed in on this post this morning. He doesn't think Schilling should have lumping Macnow with Cataldi and Eskin:

Glen taught me in a journalism class, and I know him to be one of the most intelligent, kind, and real people in Philadelphia media. Unlike Howard and Ange, Glen doesn't take on a false personality to fit his listeners. He gives his callers time to talk, listens to most of them closely and responds thoughtfully. Many of the other hosts on WIP do the same. Just because the shows that bookend the normal working day are headed by jerks, it doesn't mean the station is a waste.

Glen Macnow sent an email this afternoon, which I quote:

I don't mind being criticized, by Schilling or anyone else. That's
part of the business. Curt, however, didn't seem to think I was a horrible human being when he asked me to emcee his charity golf tournament two winters ago. Nor, I'm sure did he mind what I wrote about him in "The great Philadelphia Sports Debate," which I co-authored with Angelo Cataldi. His anger entirely stems from what Angelo, Howard and I have said about Terry Francona.

He then sent over a selection from the book, which I am posting as well:

Chapter 2

Q: Was Curt Schilling a candid athlete or a self-serving jerk?

Glen says: Here’s what we ask of our athletes in Philadelphia: A full-tilt effort on the field, plus the ability to throttle it up for the big game. A civility to fans and media, maybe even a sense that they actually understand us. Honesty – and an occasional controversy doesn’t hurt. Throw in a charitable streak and we’ll build a statue in your honor.

Curt Schilling provided all these attributes during his nine seasons as a Phillie. He was the most accessible, candid, fan-friendly player this side of Charles Barkley.

And yet there are critics – led by you, Angelo – who twist Schilling’s openness into something smug and self-serving. Hey Ange, did you prefer the Scott Rolen approach?

The true nonsense here is that, while Schilling is criticized as a phony, his two-faced teammates on the 1993 Phils are memorialized for being a great group of guys. We love Macho Row for its Regular Joe image, but those of us who covered that squad know the truth. Unlike John Kruk, Schilling did not get snarly once the TV cameras left. Unlike Lenny Dykstra, Schilling didn’t make a drunken idiot of himself in nightspots around the nation. Unlike other teammates, he was not a bully, a homophobe or a serial adulterer.

What did he do wrong? He wrapped his head in a towel when Mitch Williams threw wild pitches all over the park. Gee, let’s shoot him.

Curt’s biggest problem was that he was too honest for his own good. He couldn’t understand why others in the Phillies organization – management and players alike – didn’t share his commitment to winning. Sort of like a fan.

He groused that ownership wasn’t spending enough money to build a winner. That prompted general manager Ed Wade to say, “Curt is a horse every fifth day. The other four days, he’s a horse’s ass.” You want to take Wade’s side here, you go right ahead.

Schilling had been taught his terrific work ethic as a young player by Roger Clemens. He just couldn’t tolerate a teammate who didn’t care as much as he did. Once, he laid into young Phils pitcher Garrett Stephenson for ignoring his homework. The dress-down came in front of others, which wasn’t very tactful on Curt’s part. But what do you prefer, the guy who demands excellence or the guy who takes the lazy route?

I had the pleasure of being around Schilling away from the ballpark – and so did you, Angelo. I recall one time he drove way out to Exton, Pa. to appear on our old TV show, “The Great Sports Debate.” Didn’t ask for a dime. Brought his two rottweilers onto the set. He even goofed around by playing in a street hockey skit we had planned – putting a few pucks past you, as I recall. Quick, Angelo, name two current athletes you could ask to kill most of a day for that kind of nonsense. Okay, name one.

Then, try to name the local players who devoted as much time to charity. Schilling became a lead man in the Phillies campaign to raise money for the fight against Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease). He started an annual fundraising golf tournament in 1996 and continues it all these years after leaving Philadelphia.

I was a guest auctioneer at Schilling’s 2003 tournament in Blue Bell, Pa. A middle-aged woman in the advanced stages of ALS was wheeled in to meet Curt. The poor woman’s condition made her speech loud and slurred and, truth be told, made many of the people listening a bit uncomfortable. But as the insurance agents and business executives who paid to play in his golf tournament waited, Curt held her hand and spoke gently with her for 15 minutes.

Yep, you couldn’t find a more self-serving guy.

Angelo says: As soon as I wipe away the tears, I’ll try the impossible here and give a more accurate portrait of the most self-serving, selfish, self-absorbed player in baseball history.

Just one question, Glen: Is that your speech for when Curt Schilling is inducted into the Hall of Fame, or are you aiming higher now and shooting for his sainthood?

Yes, I did have a chance to get to know Schilling through our old TV show, and yes, I did pet his dogs and he did score a couple of goals against me in street hockey. I enjoyed all of that. I also have talked to his wife Shonda many times, and she is a fantastic person.

I’ll add something that was even more important to me and my career. At a time when no one from the Phillies would ever call WIP, Schilling called us every morning, win or lose, in the latter stages of the 1993 run. There were days when he would be waiting on the phone as we came on the air at 6 a.m.!

All of which should tell you something, Glen: If I don’t like a guy after all of that, there must be a reason. And I have more reasons than space here will allow. So I’ll just go through a few of the major ones.

Curt Schilling was all about himself from the day he arrived in Philadelphia. Everyone in the Phillies organization, from the top reaches of the front office to the lowly batboys, could not stand Schilling. They knew, right at the beginning, that he was selfish. They knew that his lip service about the fortunes of the team was just that. He didn’t give a damn about the Phillies, or about winning.

Remember the towel-draping act in the ninth inning of games he pitched in ’93, Glen? Let’s analyze that for a minute. Here was a young pitcher openly showing up a teammate, Mitch Williams, and distancing himself from the possibility of failure.

The towel over the head was saying to the fans: “Hey, if we lose this, don’t blame me. I’m not any more comfortable with this guy on the mound than you are.”

Macho Row hated Schilling for that unprofessional, grandstanding tradition, and Curt knew it. But he didn’t stop because it got him some face time (or, in this case, towel time) on TV. Even back then, it was all about Schilling.

His final years in Philadelphia were among the ugliest in the history of our sports town, Glen. You know that. The diatribes about commitment to winning, the trade demands, the media wars (with me, among others) . . . they were all just an updated version of the towel-draping. Again, he was distancing himself from failure. If the team lost, it was the owners and front office, not Curt. Never Curt.

He won a world championship in Arizona, although people may forget that he left the seventh game of the 2001 World Series losing 2-1 because he gave up a huge home run to Alfonso Soriano in the eighth inning. The Diamondbacks won long after Curt had left the mound. But this was one time when he did not distance himself from the team. Oh, no. There was no towel draped over his head when Luis Gonzalez blooped the game-winner. As I recall, Curt was one of the first Arizona players on the field. More precious face time.

Now Schilling is a member of the Boston Red Sox, after more open politicking for a trade once Arizona stopped winning. He milked those contract negotiations right through the Thanksgiving holiday in 2003. In the end, he got a huge contract and vowed to end the curse of the Bambino. Who was going to mention that a week earlier he had waived his no-trade clause because he was going to join Boston’s evil rivals, the New York Yankees? Not you, Glen.

A few weeks into the 2004 season, Schilling told his teammates that they should take less money to stay in Boston. Lots of them were in the final year of their contracts, and he said they should stop worrying so much about money.

Hey, he got his. Screw them.

Curt Schilling is the biggest phony I’ve ever witnessed in 30 years of covering and talking about sports. Even your heartwarming story about the sick woman leaves me cold, Glen. I know better.

I guarantee you – absolutely guarantee – there was a TV camera somewhere nearby, recording this act of sentiment. The fact that you were watching, ready to broadcast this latest example of his greatness, cannot be discounted either.

Even that story wasn’t really about the woman, Glen.

It was about Curt Schilling.

It’s always about Curt Schilling.

Set the Table for Five More

Kanye West, Brad Pitt and Rita, Ziggy and Stephen Marley are heading to town for the Live 8 show on Saturday. Inquirer reporter Michael Klein just got off the phone with producer Russell Simmons. Story here.

West and the Marleys will perform at the mega-benefit for Africa. Pitt will present.

Simmons is still talking of his "dream finale," a version of "We Are the World" with Michael Jackson, Prince, Usher, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys and Beyonce. All pieces are in order, except for Jacko, Prince and Usher. Simmons says none of the three has confirmed. But he keeps talking about it.

Wait, set another place. For Natalie Portman. And for Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Naomi Watts, Chris Tucker, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Ashley Judd. Oh yeah, and Jack Nicholson. Will need another table.

This is the list as of now on the AOL Music, the web site of Live 8's official partner.

presenters

• Will Smith
• Salma Hayek
• Natalie Portman
• Chris Tucker
• Jennifer Connolly
• Jimmy Smits
• Kami

artists:

• Alicia Keys
• Black Eyed Peas
• Bon Jovi
• Dave Matthews Band
• Def Leppard
• Destiny's Child
• Jay-Z
• Josh Groban
• Kaiser Chiefs
• Keith Urban
• Linkin Park
• Maroon 5
• P Diddy
• Rob Thomas
• Sarah McLachlan
• Stevie Wonder
• Toby Keith

Live 8, the Drinking Game

Got a call from a Fox News producer in New York. Grew up here, she said. Loves Philly. Just kind of wondering how the city is getting ready for the million or so people expected for Live 8. You, know, she said, Philadelphians don't have the easiest reputation.

Gimme a break. We're great hosts. We've already got a Live 8 drinking game.

It's by Daniel McQuade, 22, a Penn grad who goes by D-Mac, and works as arts & culture editor for the Evening Bulletin, a born-again broadsheet with a storied name. D-Mac has lived in Philadelphia his whole life. It shows. He calls his blog Philadelphia Will Do.

If Mayor Street says something stupid, take a sip.

If Jay-Z brings more than 10 people on stage with him? Take a sip.

If you see someone selling water for more than $4? Sip.

Now, if Will Smith says "Aw hell naw!," take a bigger sip.

Bigger sip if someone asks "What has nine arms and sucks?" and it's a joke about Def Leppard.

And if someone yells, "Free Mumia?" Gulp.

If Michael Jackson shows? Finish your drink.

Same with the Pope.

Same if you actually figure out who Keith Urban is.

There's lots more. This kid has got it. Got something, at least.

If everyone takes their trash with them when they leave, you get to finish all your drinks and buy more.

Live Aid in the Blender

From Blender Magazine's July issue, we borrow 33 things you should know about Live Aid, that African-aid benefit 20 years ago on two continents.

Some of it is well known by now, how Philadelphia Mayor W. Wilson Goode snagged the show by telling organizers, "We need this," then opening the city's wallet. 

But much we didn't remember. That the date was changed for Bruce Springsteen, who bagged it.

That Madonna, who had just endured Penthouse Magazine's publication of 10-year-old nude pictures, declined the Philly crowd's request that she disrobe. "Then years from now they might hold it against me," she cleverly said.

Bob Geldof's F-bomb on the BBC set off a wave of donations bound for Africa.

Mick Jagger stepped on Tina Turner's feet.

No one wanted to be the one to tell the slightly out-of-practice Paul McCartney that there was no piano.

Philly's Hooters get a bit dissed in the magazine, described as merely a "local band."

The show was criticized for being too white. Geldof said Steve Wonder canceled. Michael Jackson "just didn't want to be involved."

Led Zeppelin's performance - so weak the band wouldn't OK its appearance on the recent box set - prompted some finger-pointing. Robert Plant blamed stand-in drummer Phil Collins, who'd arrived by Concorde and whose head, Plant complained, was "still halfway across the Atlantic." Collins said "Robert's voice wasn't up to much, and Jimmy (Page) was dribbling like he was on another planet."

Collins wound up walking back to his hotel. After helicoptering back to NYC. (This doesn't sound so bad, but maybe it was.)

It's a Thinning Line

Example No. 346 of why the line between news and opinion is getting thinner all the time:

The Huffington Post will be the first blog to be aggregated on Yahoo's News page.

This is great, some will say. This is further evidence of the end of the world, others will say.

Still others ... I don't know, but if I were to start another rock band, it would be called the Still Others, after this journalistic convention.

What does it mean? Probably that Yahoo should congratulate itself for cutting a deal with a buzzmaking blog, since it gives people looking for news a better reason not to start with Google.

Huffington huffs over the deal, expectedly. She chats with Yahoo's Scott Moore about it, saying there is a way to integrate the two cultures quickly: My theory is that you should go ahead, hop into bed, follow that passion… then work out who does the dishes and who takes out the trash later!

A press release describes this bit of talk as an announcement "in blog form." You decide.

The release says: "The content will appear primarily in the opinion section of Yahoo! News, although Yahoo! News editors may select stories to appear on Yahoo! News entertainment pages when appropriate."

For now, when you type Larry David into the Yahoo! News search engine, the Curb Your Enthusiasm crank's latest observation, "The Roving Thoughts of a Liberal Insomniac," does not show.

Presumably a collection of whits from the right will be joining Yahoo! News soon.

When Blogging is Political Flogging

Twelve million visitors drop by The Daily Kos every month on average, drinking in its digest of news and opinion on progressive politics. The site raises money for Democrats, promotes certain candidacies, links to campaigns. Founder Markos Moulitsas Zuniga also earned money for providing technical assistance to former presidential candidate Howard Dean. "Kos," as he's called, didn't hide that fact. To the contrary, he announced it front and center on his site.

But is this contributing or coordinating with political campaigns? Those are key words. With the FEC required by a federal judge to draft new rules regulating the Internet's role in elections, many bloggers and civil libertarians are worried that the commission will over step its role and curb the free-ranging debate that goes on in these sites.

Two days of hearings begin today, and prominent local bloggers play major roles. Duncan Black, a Philadelphian who writes the Eschaton blog under the pen name Atrios, is testifying Wednesday. Atrios does fundraising for Democratic candidates, and like Kos, accepts paid ads from federal campaigns.

Matt Stoller, co-creator of The Blogging of the President, testifies today, as does Kos. ("Just a guy with a blog," Kos testified today, the AP reports.) Stoller has recently been hired by the Corzine for Governor campaign - again, he announced this - and the new regulations raise questions about his ability to blog independently about federal campaigns.

Representing the three, and author of their comment in response to the FEC's proposed rules, is Adam Bonin, a Philadelphia attorney and blogger, himself.

In an interview, Bonin described the fight as "both ends against the middle" - left and right bloggers opposing the regulations, which are supported by good-government types who feel elaborate rules best control problematic behavior.

"What troubles me most is that in regulating against harms that do not exist, they are going to retard the future development of political technologies, like blogging, podcasting or elsewhere."

The FEC rules respond to concerns like those expressed by Richard L. Hasen, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and author of the Election Law blog. He told the Washington Post of a scenario where "somebody is blogging at the behest of a campaign and nobody knows it. If, for example, for are a U.S. Senate candidate and you have a blogger who you're paying to write good things about you and bad things about your opponent, it will eventually come out. But that may not come out until after the election." Article here.

Bonin argues that no one found out to be in a politicians employ would enjoy any credibility. It is an ethical matter, not a regulatory one, he says. And it could be better addressed by requiring that campaign finance documents be filed more promptly and in searchable form.

Two bloggers have been found to have been paid $35,000 as consultants for their work -- by the John Thule for Senate Campaign. This wasn't disclosed until reported by the Sioux Falls Argus Leader in August. Thune, a Republican, unseated former House minority leader Tom Daschle, a Democrat.

After two days of hearing the commission will produce its final regulations later this year.

Live 8 Bill Fleshed Out

New for Live 8 in Philly:

Alicia Keys, Black Eyed Peas, Josh Groban, Jars of Clay, Toby Keith.

And celebrity presenters: Salma Hayek, Natalie Portman, Chris Tucker, Jennifer Connolly, Jimmy Smits and Kami, the HIV-Positive Muppet.

The list, announced by official partner AOL, doesn't include Def Leppard, which announced on its Web site over the weekend that the metal-popsters would be playing. Denied? (Evening Update: Not denied. AOL's site now lists the Leps)

The day is shaping up as a stellar outing for African American artistry. Keys and the Peas join Jay-Z, P. Diddy, Destiny's Child, Stevie Wonder and host Will Smith. 

The rockists are bummed. Nothing to buzz about, like London's reunion of Pink Floyd. The add-ons flavor the bill with Christian rock (Jars of Clay), God and Country (Toby Keith) and classical pop (Josh Groban, who should appear late in the day, seeing as his bio reports he likes to sleep until 2 p.m.) They join Rob Thomas, the Kaiser Chiefs, Sarah McLachlan, Bon Jovi, Dave Matthews Band, Linkin Park, Maroon 5 and Keith Urban.

Blinq expects to be there, live blogging, and praying for clear skies in the 70s. Promises not to make reference to the hardship of covering Woodstock '99 or an EU summit. 

Technorati has a Web page designed to collect talk about the July 2 shows and the cause, fighting povery in Africa.

One Philadelphian who'll be hard to find on Saturday? Pesky Apostrophe.

Another?  Studio 2F.

Look for Dennis of Vintage 2001 to be making the trek from Selinsgrove, PA. "A shining moment in the history of Pennsylvania," he blogs.

Square Peg asks that we quit complaining for once. Something for almost everyone, she writes.

Grokster rocked by Supremes

Grokster lost big-time in the U.S. Supreme Court today. The justices unanimously ruled the file-sharing software violates federal law in allowing music and movie fans to download copyrighted materials.

What does it mean?

There will be a lot of crowing from the movie and music industries, which contend peer-to-peer software is a massive digital copying machine that threatens their bottom lines.

Technological innovators are worried about a chilling effect.

The ruling holds file-sharing services responsible if they intend that their customers use the software for illegal purposes. Grokster had maintained they had no such intent, but file-sharing experts have maintained an overwhelming majority of files available for download are copyrighted materials.

"We hold that one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by the clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties," Justice David H. Souter wrote for the court.

David Post, a law prof at Temple U., says Grokster's problem was helping people download illegally. The decision points to Grokster's advertising itself as an alternative to Napster after that file-sharing system was shut down. Users asking how to find specific copywrighted files got emails from other users offering directions. That was a problem, the court found.

The effect, Post said by phone today:

"If you're in the business of providing file-sharing systems or software, you shut up about how great it is to get the new Madonna single tomorrow."

The justices split three to three, however, over whether file-sharing software is ok if the maker doesn't encourage illegality, yet the software is used primarily for illegal purposes. (Three didn't stake opinions) And that, Post said, will result in a variety of lower-court rulings and, potentially, another opportunity for the top court to rule on that tricky question in a few years.

I did a set up piece last month, hoping to sort out what is a stake. It's conclusion: not as much as you think, in reality. Money will likely dry up for those hoping to create peer-to-peer giants, but there is no way to stop the 130 million Grokster programs downloaded into people's computers. And illegal downloading continues to grow month by month. The Big Picture blogs makes a similar point today.

Grokster maintains no central servers that could be unplugged. There is no warehouse of music to shutter. Nothing can be done to stop those who use the software from trading files. But Grokster is likely to stop sending its users ads. That, traders can live with, I'm guessing.

The Electronic Freedom Foundation has amassed a mountain of background online for the MGM v Grokster case.

How Appealing has, as usual, superb links to this and the other end-of-term decisions today. For the issues at stake, it links this site.

One lawyer goes deep, Ernest Miller at Corante on the decision.

Nixon's the One

Not since Miami Beach, 1968, have I seen so many Nixon signs. Started Friday night in Center City, Red Sox Nation on a road trip, grown men in No. 7 jerseys, pouring out of the local hotels and eateries. I'm not sure why they're wearing  Trot Nixon jerseys other than he's a white guy, too, and Boston's always been kinda loyal that way.

Disclaimer: I'm Boston-born, a lifelong Red Sox fan, and that being my affliction,  suspicious of leads and uncomfortable with gloating. Or even winning. So I was the guy wearing  a Berlin Thunder NFL Europe hat to the game Sunday and a t-shirt from my dad's hardware store in Dorchester, Mass. I even clapped for good Phillies plays, and there were a couple. You will excuse me for leaping to my feet when Manny Ramirez slammed one to right. You didn't hear me doing one of the obnoxious "Let's go Red Sox" chants or blanketing it with boos, either.  I was too busy listening to the heckler next to me who seemed to know how much every one on the diamond gets paid - well almost: Kevin Youkilis makes $323,000 not $625,000, but I admired his confidence.

Phillies bloggers were prepared for the interleague interlopers. Phillies Nation was looking to show the Bostonians a little local attitude:

I especially would like to see some hostility towards any Sox fans that think they can take over the joint.  Show them this isn't New York, it's much worse.

Never happened. There was lots of gentle back and forth between those with Bs and Ps on their caps. Mixed couples, too. The Red Sox sure seemed comfy in CBP. After a Jason Varitek single, the Boston captain chatted amiably with Jim Thome at first. "What are you two doing?" the wise guy next to me hollered. "Comparing salaries?" That contest Thome would win, $13.2 million to $8 million.

Becky of Good Grief! Does This Blog Make My Butt Look Big? wound up disgusted. But by Bobby Abreu.

Shallow Center's post on the three-day whooping is titled "Boston Scream Pie."

Phreakin' Phils wrote about the city's assorted warnings and precautions:

• Interstate 95 will be closed to ensure the smooth transport of chowdah and Sam Adams lager to the region.

• The Phanatic will temporarily be renamed “that othah green monstah.”

• All schools, government buildings, and available office space will be converted into Irish Pubs.

• A team of highly-trained animal handlers will be on call for late-night David Wells sightings.

• Persons not wearing an appropriate amount of Sox gear are encouraged to stay indoors for the weekend. Appropriate garb includes, at minimum, a Bosox visor, blue training pants with a red stripe, and a bright red shirt that reads "Yankees suck."

• Pedestrians who spot Manny Ramirez wandering the city are encouraged to point him in the direction of the stadium.

Manny turned out to know his way around left pretty well, even if he did lose track of the pitching count.  Wells was crafty as ever. Someone woke up Bellhorn. The Sox looked like they were pulling out of here to win it all again. To me, after living here longer than anywhere else, it felt only half great.

But something I read this weekend made me appreciate even being in the game. On Wednesday, it will be 100 years since Moonlight Graham made his only major-league appearance - and never got up to bat. I always thought W.P. Kinsella, author of Shoeless Joe, made up that character that Burt Lancaster wound up playing in Field of Dreams. Nope. Moonlight lived.