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81 Outs to Go, and the Adventures of Luna

I don't have a bucket list, but if I did I could now cross off "Attend a World Series game at Fenway Park"! Last night Steph and I went (although of course it wasn't her first World Series game, as she was lucky enough to go in 2007!) and were rewarded with a win—and a fun game to watch. It was pretty chilly but not nearly as cold as we had feared. 

What a nightmare for the Cards. They played such a sloppy game that there's probably enough footage for an entire blooper reel! I had originally embedded a bunch of video clips below, but you can find them yourselves easily enough. Regarding Drew's popup to the pitcher, though, I'm sorry, but as Pete learned in Little League, when you call the ball, you catch it! 

And as for that ridiculous call at second base that got overturned, wow, just wow. Andy had texted me from home that the replay clearly showed that Pedroia was safe. At Fenway we had 38,345 fans chanting "BULLSHIT! BULLSHIT!" when the first ump called him out. (Beginning next year, all controversial calls will be reviewed on tape, which means that every game is going to last about 5 hours....)

Anyhow, it was almost too easy a win, but obviously great fun to watch, and Lester pitched beautifully. As for tonight, I know that many of you believe that Steph and I are key to the Sox's winning strategy—we have not been to a single losing playoff game—but I regret to inform you that we are not going tonight. We've both been sick (especially me), and I think we need to stay home for a change. It's supposed to be even colder tonight, and I am even sleepier.

But back to last night. Steph and I left for Fenway, and Andy had gone to pick up Julie at Hebrew school. Pete was dropped off at the house after his soccer game (which neither of us could attend, but which they won 2–0!). He came into the kitchen and heard the sound of a cat in great distress. Grace and Violet were freaking out, so it was clear that Luna was the one in trouble. He opened all the kitchen cabinets but couldn't find her and finally determined that she had fallen behind the refrigerator. He called Andy, who called our next-door neighbor Brad, who, fortunately, was just pulling into his driveway, and he came over right away.

Some of you may remember that when we got this fridge, we had a beyond-horrible experience with Sears (our first and last time shopping there). After all of the service issues, the fridge was finally re-delivered, but it wouldn't quite fit in the space where the old one had been. We were so fed up (and aware that they don't make narrower fridges that hold more than a quart of milk) that we just jammed the thing in and hoped it would live longer than us. So it's completely wedged in on both sides, and I mean completely—you couldn't slip a blade of grass in there. There's about 4 inches of space between the back of the fridge and the wall, mostly taken up by wires and coils and pipes and such, and then there's about 4 inches of headspace above the fridge before you hit the auxiliary cookbook cabinet above (auxiliary because I can't reach it without standing on a chair, so it holds the cookbooks I rarely use).

So Andy got home, and he and Brad started brainstorming. They ended up removing the entire cookbook cabinet from the wall, and Andy climbed up and started dangling stuff down to Luna back there, hoping she'd grab on and climb up or let him hoist her up, but no luck. Finally Brad made a mini noose out of a rope, climbed up on top of the fridge, and managed to loop it around Luna's neck and gently pull her up without allowing it to tighten too much. What a save! Clearly Brad is our closer.

Koji Fan Club President

After watching the Red Sox in Detroit for three nights on TV, Steph and I got to go to Fenway last night to see our beloved boys win the pennant in person. It was a tense night until, all of a sudden, it wasn't tense anymore and it was just plain raucous celebration. My throat is still sore this morning from all the screaming, and I smashed my knee into the seat in front of me when I was jumping around like a lunatic. To envision the scene of 38,823 Red Sox fans upon watching Koji Uehara throw that last strike, use your imagination and then multiply it by a bazillion.

If you zoom in on this panoramic photo, look at the pole below the press box, then go to the left two poles over on the first-base line, and you will see Andy's parents, me (with a "B" tag), and Steph. We are right next to the pole that says "15/16."  We are crediting last night's win to the fact that we wore the same shirts and sat in the same seats as last week when Buchholz beat Scherzer. And the beards, of course. And something about a Flyin' Hawaiian grand slam. 

For those who have asked why it's always Steph and I who go to these games: Andy and Pete would prefer to watch at home on TV because they like to listen to the play-by-play and color commentary, watch the replays, see the graphics, etc. They think all that is worth the trade-off of the Fenway experience. (They're wrong. So very wrong.) As for Julie, she just isn't all that into it (yet?), and also does not have any interest in staying up late. She's been to a few day games and likes those well enough. But Steph and I love going!

Speaking of watching on TV, I can't stand watching games on Fox. For one thing, I would throttle Tim McCarver if I had the chance. Second, as noted above, one of the benefits of watching at home is the handy graphics ... except that Fox hardly has any! All season long when we watch on NESN, they have that cool little strike zone thingy in the lower-right corner for every pitch. They also have all the info you need right there on the screen for every batter. Fox has none of that. They show the strike zone only for controversial calls. The only interesting feature they have is that purple swoosh that shows the trajectory of a pitch, and only sometimes. TBS is slightly better, and at least they don't have McCarver. So I'm annoyed the World Series will be on Fox. But it won't matter for Game 1, because ... I'm going to Fenway! It will be my first World Series game! (Steph and Pete went in 2007.)

Another highlight of last night was watching Boston's own Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys perform the national anthem, which they did beautifully. Afterward they played "Shipping Up to Boston," which was a blast, and they had Irish step-dancers too. I'm trying to find a video on YouTube but so far have come up dry; you can read more about it here. UPDATE 10/21/13: Finally found some videos: This one has both songs and shows the step-dancers; this one has just "Shipping" but a better view of the Murphys, as well as the Parkington Sisters on fiddle. 

Meanwhile, I neglected to mention that last Wednesday was kind of a big day around here, Sox notwithstanding. How big? Well, it was our 25th wedding anniversary. Really. 25 years. (Which is weird, because as you all know, I'm only 37 years old.) We had a dinner reservation for last night at Mistral, but Andy agreed to postpone it until this coming Saturday so that I could go to Fenway. That just gives us an extra week to celebrate, right?

Birthday (Cheese)Cake

I forgot to share what Julie made for her birthday in lieu of a cake, another winner from the folks at King Arthur:

Vanilla Cheesecake Bars

Crust:
1¼ cups graham cracker crumbs, about 8 whole crackers
¼ cup confectioners' sugar
⅛ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
5 tablespoons melted butter

Batter:
16 ounces (2 large packages) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup heavy cream or sour cream
3 large eggs
2 to 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel, optional
1 teaspoon lemon juice, optional

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

To make the crust: Stir together the crumbs, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and melted butter. Press into the bottom and about ½" inch up the sides of an 8" square pan.

Freeze for 15 minutes if using a metal pan (not necessary if using ceramic or glass). Note: this is to prevent the edges of the crust from slumping. If you're not worried about slumping (and in our testing, it only happened some of the time), you can skip this step.

Bake the crust until set, 8 to 10 minutes; the color won't change much. Remove the crust from the oven and cool for a few minutes while you lower the oven temperature to 325°F.

To make the batter: Mix the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Add the cream, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice; mix until combined, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as you mix. Spoon the batter into the crust.

Bake the bars until the filling is set but still soft in the center, 30 to 40 minutes. An instant-read thermometer, inserted into the filling about 1" in from the edge, will read about 180°F.

Remove the bars from the oven and cool at room temperature for 30 minutes. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Just before serving, top with fresh berries, fruit pie filling, or whipped cream. (Julie made her own whipped cream, of course!)

I like cheesecake well enough but am not a huge fan, so a small bar was just right for me.

Weekend Update

Saturday was Julie's 12th birthday! Hardly seems possible, as everyone has (unnecessarily) pointed out to me. She's the baby, right? She received a Kindle Paperwhite and so far loves it. I caved earlier this year and got Amazon Prime, and that opens up all kinds of special deals for buying/borrowing Kindle books. She's a big reader, so I think it will turn out to be a great gift.

Because of the birthday festivities, we did not go to Fenway Saturday night, and just as well, because it was a depressing loss.

But for those who have been living in a cave, Sunday was kind of a big day for Boston sports fans. Last Steph and I had heard, the Patriots were down 24–23. Just as we arrived at Yawkey Way, we heard a huge whoop from the crowd around the TV set at one of the memorabilia shops and we knew what it had to mean. Sure enough, everyboday's favorite quarterback Tom Brady had thrown one of his amazing passes to win the game. I don't do football, but I'm always happy when the Patriots win, because then everyone around me is happy.

And Sunday's game at Fenway? Well, let's just say that it's possible I've never screamed that loudly and jumped that enthusiastically for any reason, with the possible exception of my first Bruce Springsteen concert in 1980. It was by far the greatest rally I've ever witnessed, and we were rewarded for sitting through all those (chilly) innings of no hits for Papi's grand slam. Wow.

And now we just beat the Tigers again, and I'm beside myself. As I reminded some friends recently, not only do I not have a second-favorite baseball team to root for, I don't even have a second-favorite sport to watch. This, the Boston Red Sox, is it for me. So go Sox!

Sporty

Baseball! On Saturday Steph and I got to go to Game 2 of the Red Sox–Rays playoff series, and it was a great game! And now that the Sox have clinched it, we will be going to one of the games this weekend against either the A's or the Tigers! We are waiting to find out what time the games will be, but I think we will try to go Sunday since Saturday is Julie's (12th!) birthday.

Soccer! Pete is on the freshman team and has started every game. It's such a pleasure to watch him play, because he's really coming into his own out there. Andy is aware of the intricacies much more than I (I still need "off sides" explained to me several times per game), but I can admire his speed and agility and finesse.

Football! I still hate football.

Basketball! Guess who is editing the "definitive biography of the most legendary basketball player of all time"? Yup, yours truly. It's exciting to be working on such a high-profile project, but it's a mammoth manuscript—it'll be a 688-page book—and on a fairly tight schedule, so I'm scrambling a bit. 

Baseball! I know I already said this, but I just love it so much. Go Sox!