Red Sox sweep Brewers 11-7

We got to see another great game of baseball at Fenway Park today. Josh Becket pitched seven innings followed by Delcarmen and Papelbon as the closer.

It was a great pleasure to watch the four home-runs: two by David Ortiz, one by Dustin Pedroia, and one by Kevin Youkilis. This performance by the Red Sox brought the inter-league series finale to a nice close.

We also had the great pleasure of being on the field during batting practice today, and were catching some balls while the Brewers warmed up. In doing so, we were close to the Red Sox bullpen and watched Clay Buchholz as he was working with the pitching coach:

It is the same Clay Buchholz who pitched a no-hitter in September 2007 as only his second start as a rookie for the Red Sox.

Best Christmas Present Ever

The holiday season is upon us and today we did a little Christmas (and Hanukkah) celebration in the office. I got the Best Christmas Present Ever from the entire staff here at Altova, Inc.:

These are authentic Fenway Park Bleacher Seats, removed in November 2007, and they come complete with certificate of authenticity, holographic authentication stickers, and - most important of all - some chewing gum still stuck on the bottom.

As part of their renovation program for Fenway Park, the Red Sox did apparently sell the old seats to fans, and the gang here at Altova managed to pull off the impossible and get me a pair.

For the time being I am keeping them in my office - until the new house is ready in a few years - and we've rearranged the furniture to make them part of the seating area. That way they will actually be used for our weekly team meetings and are also available for visitors.

If you want to know how happy I am about these seats, just look at the grin on my face in this picture to the left.

Thank you guys! You've really made my day!!

Josh Beckett shuts out Angels

Josh Beckett, in top form today, throws a complete game, shutting out the Angels in in the ALDS game 1 at Fenway Park tonight. Final Score Red Sox 4 - Angels 0.

Go Sox!

Red Sox 10, Yankees 1

Last night's defeat was easily forgotten, as we watched today's game at Fenway Park from the Right Field Roof Deck.

Beckett held the Yankees to a mere three hits and one run over seven innings: Beckett walked two, struck out seven and, aside from a solo homer by Derek Jeter in the first, basically never blinked.

More details about the game on the Red Sox website.

Buchholz no-hitter at Fenway Park

Red Sox Rookie Clay Buchholz shuts out the Baltimore Orioles in just his second start in the major league - what an unbelievable game, and the crowd at Fenway Park went wild!