I was unable to attend Sunday's game at Fenway and missed the beginning. I entered the game about the time Beckett was exiting. As the game went on I was beginning to lose hope.

Then the unthinkable, Jeremy Guthrie was pulled after eight-plus innings of shutout ball.

What were the Orioles thinking? The pitcher, while not overpowering, allowed his defense to make plays, keeping the Sox at bay. Why ruin a good thing?

The Nathua Telegraph writes how the hook, sparked the rally.

But as I said, I wasn't there, I was catching it all on the tube. But nothing beats what would seem an impossible victory at the Fenz.

Carl Natale was there and sent me an e-mail about his experience (it's worth the read):

On the way to the Red Sox game Sunday, I was telling Griffin that we were going to see Josh Beckett pitch - the guy with seven wins and no losses. I was kind of worried whether he could keep going. What were the chances he could earn win #8 while we were there?

He gave up two runs in the first but kept a pretty good lid on the Orioles otherwise. The offense seemed to be out to brunch with their mothers.

We had to rely on the bozo who tried to run out on the field for excitement. He jumped into the Orioles bullpen and was stopped as he straddled the right field wall. He was taken down by two security guards who hit him like they were trying out for the Patriots.

Despite that, we even got a pretty good wave going around the park. The wave and inning was squelched by a double play performed by the Orioles.

But when Coco Crisp got on first on a pop fly too complicated for the catcher to handle in the ninth, I believed. And I wasn't the only one. The fans made sure the Sox didn't forget why they were there. One-by-one, they filled the bases.

Griffin was keeping score and had trouble keeping up and seeing past the fans who couldn't stay seated. So I was calling out the plays. "They just walked Hinke - on purpose."

"No I don't know why. That loads the bases."

"Well if Cora hits a home run, it's a tie game"

It needs to be noted that I was able to do this and yell my support without using language an 11-year-old's mother would disapprove of. (She was already mad at me for teaching him how make a mess with peanut shells.)

You know Ed, I haven't seen a lot of baseball. But this was the most exciting thing I have ever seen in a ballpark. Bit by bit, the Sox put runners on home plate. And Fenway rocked. Despite the Sox being down 5-0 going into the ninth inning the fans stayed in the stands instead of getting a jump on traffic. Yeah the fans deserve a spot in the lineup as the 10th man.

When Lugo connected, I expected that to tie the game. But I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Varitek cross the plate. Again, I kept the language in check. But not the volume.

I haven't seen any highlights on TV. There's no way they saw the same thing I saw. The most incredible baseball game. Griffin almost talked me into buying season tickets.

I got goosebumps, or chicken skin, or something to do with fowl and chills.
What an experience! Now, after listening to me talk about the Sox for 40 hours a week for the past seven years, my good friend and colleague may finally understand my obsession.

That 11-year-old is certain to learn a valuable life lesson too: Never give up!

The Sox don't always pull it off, but they always give it a valiant effort.
Sunday, that effort gave them an eight-game lead over the Orioles and Yankees.

In case you missed it: ESPN has the recap.

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