5.5 random things

5.5: This post is dedicated to Bruce, of Bruce and Morgan fame, who managed to comment twice on my 13 day absence from posting. I would like to apologize publically (I almost wrote "to publically apologize", which is a split infinitive) to my legions of fans for taking so long.

5: I am an introvert. I took one of those personality tests a few years back and out of 22 questions I gave the "introvert" answer to 21 of them. And I suppose it's true, I mean, I'm the guy who snuck away from his own birthday party for 10 minutes because I needed a break. For the record, "introvert" does not mean antisocial or doesn't like people. On the contrary, I love people. In fact, I know many extroverts who don't like people. That is not a contradiction, extroverts love to be around people, it doesn't mean that like the people they're around. They need the interaction. Anyway, enough of my stupid pop psychology.

4: The best new blog on the market belongs to Brian, fellow Simpsons fan and boy band member. It's funny how he posted 3 times in his first 3 days, aren't these newbies so precious? Don't worry, Brian, you're wide-eyes optimism and innocent zeal will be sucked out of you in no time. Also, I'm not sure how he manages to find the time to blog, which leads me to believe that he slipped this one by his wife without her knowing. So if you know Mrs Brian, keep this on the down low.

3: When I was in college I had a Biology class that I really didn't like. When I wasn't skipping (sorry, mom and dad), I was struggling to stay awake. So, I invented a foolproof way to look busy, keep the mind sharp and in no way engage the course material at all. I would sit with my notebook open and pen in hand and think about a song I hadn't heard in a long time. Then, I'd write out the words as best I could, and would genuinely be looking like I was concentrating intensely. You could look through that notebook (it's probably in a trunk in my parents' basement if you really want to investigate) and find notes about photosynthesis mixed with the lyrics to Bobby Darin tunes.

2: While we're confessing scholastic laziness, I dropped a class in college because it interfered with the Red Sox playoff schedule. It was an Astronomy class in the Fall of 1999, which had its labs at night (obviously), Monday nights to be precise. I looked over the playoff schedule and realized I would have to skip 3 labs, and I was only allowed 1 skip. To be honest, it really wasn't a tough choice for me. And if I didn't drop that class, I would have missed one of the greatest single pitching performances ever (Game 5 of the Division Series against the Cleveland Indians and their high powered offense, Pedro Martinez came on in relief, bad back and all, and no-hit them for 6 innings, striking out 8 and winning the series, this happened on a Monday night). Oh, and this might be the first time my parents have ever heard about this. And I stand by my decision.

1. The greatest website of all time just might be retrosheet.org. It has the box scores for almost every baseball game in the last 18 million years or so. I could spend hours looking at this stuff if I wanted to (I'll let you guess if I actually have or not). It has all sorts of other goodies as well. And you can take a look at the box score and game log from the very first game I attended live (at Fenway Park) on July 12, 1986. It's amazing to me how much this confirms my memory. I remember it being Roger Clemens' 15th win, against Mike Witt of the California Angels, who was one of the best pitchers in the AL that year. I remember the center fielder making his major league debut (I didn't remember his name, though, it's LaSchelle Tarver). I remember Bill Buckner making an error to give the Angels the lead (he did in the top of 6th), then homering to give the Sox the lead (in the bottom of the 6th, and I can still picture the crowd in right field standing as the ball flew towards them). What the box score doesn't show is Wade Boggs arguing with an umpire about a ground ball on the baseline that he felt went foul (though it mentions Schofield's bunt single to third in the 5th, which must be the same play) or the papercut I got on my finger from the napkin I was holding while eating my first Fenway Frank. Yes, my memory of my childhood is that accurate.

I guess that's it, 5.5 random things. I'll be back to posting other more important stuff soon, I promise (I may or may not have my fingers crossed right now).