Boston Red Sox at Cincinnati Reds

Great American Ballpark -- Cincinnati, Ohio

Great American Ballpark was the final park of our 2008 tour. As you read before, the home Reds lost to the Red Sox, 5-3, in 10 innings. The Reds were losing, 3-2, going to the bottom of the ninth and the Sux's closer, Jonathan Papelbon, got two outs on the Redlegs. Edwin Encarnacion came up with two outs, and then got two strikes on him. But then he smashed a home run to tie the game at 4 a piece. The Reds had another chance against Papelbon, but blew it.

Then they kept their reliever in from the previous inning, and he gave up two solo shots to Kevin Youkilis and, as E calls him, "the other dick," Coco Crisp. The Reds had another shot to tie it in the bottom of the 10^th. They got two runners on with two outs, but Brandon Philips' shot at tying it fell just short, caught at the warning track by J.D. Drew.

Here's the recap from the local paper.

The day ended up being beautiful. At first, there were some weather reports that predicted thunder storms, but it ended up being 82 and sunny, with a few clouds in the sky. We sat in the upper deck, just off to the right of home plate and about five rows from the top. They were pretty good seats, actually, but it was weird to be sitting in the upper deck. Apparently, the Reds wouldn't let E buy tickets to just one game through their website. He would've had to buy a four-pack, which wouldn't have done us any good. So he bought them through e-bay.

Since it was the Red Sox, the obnoxious Sox fans were out in force. Why is that every Red Sox fan must make a comment to someone wearing a Yankees hat (me -- A) every time they pass by? I had some old couple make a comment. Then, later on, E, L, C and I noticed a guy wearing a Cubs hat and a Sox jersey. We commented that the guy must've been through a lot of torture. E said maybe the guy was just confused. A guy wearing a Sox jersey overheard us and said that it was his friend and he let him borrow the Sox jersey. Fine - no problem. But then he looks at me, nods at my hat and says, "Speaking of someone who's confused." Now why did he need to say that? I'm not confused at all. I was born in New York and I like the Yankees. No confusion here. The Red Sox disgust me. No confusion there, either. Whatever …

As I'm typing this in the back seat of the Jetta, C is driving and noticed an "Emergency Stopping Only" sign on the side of the road. Immediately behind the sign are skid marks heading into a big grass field.

Earlier in the morning, we went to C's parent's place -- where his mom made an unbelievable breakfast for us of waffles, fruit compote, whip cream, sausage, etc. -- and showered up (for reasons left unreported). We hit the road around 10 a.m., and we drove by Eight Mile Rd. and waved at Bunny Rabbit (What up, Eminem?). Then we ran into some troubles trying to get on Rte. 75 South. Apparently, the road was closed for miles. As E said, "Maybe they were trying to prevent any more people from leaving Detroit."

L felt much better today. He sobered up, finally. It only took a day-and-a-half. C soldiered through last night, drinking until after 3 a.m., including a massive Tequila shot after the bar actually closed. He then came back to his buddies' place and slept on the floor and woke up less than six hours later, pronouncing that he was good to go. Total trooper. C wins the award for best recovery time.

Some more highlights:

• At the park we ate Coney's, smothered in so much cheese we couldn't see them.
  
• Walking to the Jetta after the game, some girl behind us made a comment that she liked the taste of ass and that she didn't shower that day. Nice.
• We saw Mennonites trying to work a vending machine at a rest stop earlier in the day.
  
• My ass was on fire. I kept having to open the window in the Jetta. In fact, car windows were cracked at random moments for random acts of flatulence. That's hot.
  
• Ohio is NOT a highlight. It might be the boringest state ever. As Jessie said at Panini's in Cleveland, Ohio is the 49^th cruddiest state, right ahead of Michigan. "Oh, and what's that one way up north … it's really cold?"
  
• We learned about Michigan left turns. Apparently, you can't turn left at a light. You have to go through the intersection and THEN make a u-turn and then turn right. Makes perfect sense.

I'll add more pics when I get the chance. There's probably another 200 shots to include. But it takes forever, so I need a solid internet connection and time - something I probably won't have until I get back home.