Game 5 - Live From Imperial Lanes in Seattle

One thing you can say about the Sox - they're rarely boring.

I watched the early innings of Game 5 at an Irish pub before heading out to my bowling night. No, I hadn't given up when it was 5-0. Hell no. I got to bowling a little early, talked to the folks in charge and got them to put TBS on the monitors over a couple empty lanes. Then I bribed three teams to make sure my team was next to those monitors.

People kept coming over to check on the score. A couple of those people had Red Sox gear on. Other people near my lane asked how many of them were bandwagoners and drew some icy stares in return. Right after Paps gave up the double to make it 7-0, a bowler on one of the other teams (who had just helped finish off a pitcher of beer I'd provided as part of the lane shift) started flipping me shit about the game. "It's early yet" was all I said.

I'd love to say I *knew* the Sox would come back and win the game when it was 7-0. All I could do was hope. "If Pedroia can just knock in a run, maybe that'll start something..." "If Papi can take Balfour deep, then it's a three run game..."

After Papi's home run, I walked past the other lanes, finding the Sox fans and giving a couple quick updates. More and more people came over to check the monitors, heading back to their lanes only when it was their turn to bowl. Gimme spares were missed. Drew homered to make it a one run game. Crisp knocked in the tying run but ended the inning trying to take second. My cell phone buzzed again. Dad. We were both a little shocked, a little giddy and a little angry by Crisp's aggressiveness on the basepaths, but we figured you cut a guy a little slack for coming through with the hit there.

By the time Masterson got Pena to ground into a double play and the Sox ninth was kept alive by a bad throw by Longoria, most of the teams had finished bowling for the night. The Sox fans headed to the bar area where we watched JD Drew's game ending ground rule single. The bar area erupted. My cell phone buzzed and my Dad and I celebrated together despite the distance. I headed back to my lane, finished my string and let my thoughts drift to something I hadn't expected. Game 6.