Found this on the always reliable Extra Bases blog, which then led to a link to WBZTV.com for a slideshow of the mayhem. Every year around this time, the Red Sox rookies are forced to dress in drag as part of a slightly creepy initiation ritual. This year’s theme was The Wizard of OZ, and you can see the frightening results on the WBZ slideshow. I personally think Daniel Bard pulled off his Cowardly Lion look purrrrfectly.
But a couple of points here. First off, I think it should’ve been Varitek who left for the roadtrip to Baltimore in shame last night instead of these guys. Tek let a swinging strike three with two outs squirt through his legs for the second night in a row in the seventh last night with the Sox in the lead 3-2. A Josh Beckett breaking ball on a 1-2 count bounced in front of him but was swung at by Chone Figgins for strike three. The captain couldn’t corral it and it went by him, allowing the tying run to score from third. The Halos would win it in the ninth against Billy Wagner on a bloop single.
Now, yes, technically it was a wild pitch, and I’m sure Tek makes that play 999 times out of 1000. But it was the second day in a row and the third time this month according to the Herald‘s John Tomase, so we have the right to be pissed. I would like to think Tito puts Victor Martinez behind the plate tonight in Baltimore, but I’m only a fantasy baseball manager and not a real one.
My other thought is, why is Jed Lowrie part of this drag thing? He’s technically still a rookie? Really? That’s kind of embarrassing, isn’t it? I’m really hoping something like this happened in the clubhouse:
PAPELBON:
Yeah that’s right bitch, you better wear the shit out of that!
LOWRIE standing nearby:
Yeah that’s right fuckers! You better pee sitting down too!
PAPELBON:
Who the fuck are you?
LOWRIE:
Uh, I’m Jed. I’ve played like 102 games up here at three different positions since last year.
PAPELBON:
You’re a fucking liar bro. You better have a dress on in two seconds, or I’m going to kill you. Literally. I’ve killed a man.
