BASICally Red Sox

One of the rites of spring in the Northeast is the first sign that winter is truly beginning to melt away. It is the heat resultant of this event that warms the hearts and invigorates the soul. Yes, that's right folks... I'm talking about opening day of baseball season! Here in Chile, it is next to impossible to receive any type of popular media from the US due to copyright and usage restrictions. Obviously some of this can be circumvented through the illegal downloading of TV, Movies, and music. However, Major League Baseball has always been the model of Uncle Scrooge in guarding their product. Imagine my happiness when I found an American run bar that boasted a satellite signal from the East Coast! Soon after the magic of opening day, I found myself getting geared up for the first real test of what our Boston Red Sox were made of. The Yankees were coming to town for a three game series and all three games were being shown by BASIC bar.

I found myself at the bar on Sunday night, looking forward to the final game
of the series...a series that the Red Sox were winning in dramatic fashion. Friends and colleagues had been cajoled with promises of great food and fun. A new face, Pancho, had joined us as well. He is a roommate of some friends and was eager to share in this promised food and fun, but a little reticent of the baseball game. He'd never seen one or understood the game! Over the next few hours, Caitlin explained the ins and outs of the game while we all whooped and cheered. Pancho quickly took a liking to "Big Papi" David Ortiz and in short order was standing and cheering his every appearance.

As the game headed into the later innings, still tied at one...Pancho got to experience baseball at one of it's greatest heights. With the bases loaded and two outs, the runner on third base took off just as the pitcher began his motion. With disbelief, every person on the field, in the stands and watching at home watched Jacoby Ellsbury steal home!!! It's a play that I grew up dreaming about, but had never seen happen. It's one of the most difficult because of pure physics and the potential game altering consequences. Stealing any base is difficult as the pitcher usually takes a scant 1.3-1.7 seconds to get the ball to the catcher. A catcher can normally recieve the ball and throw it back out to one of the bases in 2.0 seconds. I can't run anywhere in 3.7 seconds and I don't know if you can. The thing that is amazing here....is that Ellsbury stole home! That means he only had, at most, 2 seconds to beat the ball home once it was thrown!! Amazing!
As the game ended and everyone was finishing their food and beer...Pancho asked us if we had a victory song to sing after the team had won. We did our best rendition of "Dirty Water" and called it a night. I can't wait to do it again and bring along the most energetic new fan I've ever watched a game with!