Byrd Watching

"I'm just so excited to be back. I want a World Series ring. Hopefully I can help this team get there. I'll clean toilets if I have to, and I told them that." -- Pitcher Paul Byrd

Remember Paul Byrd? Yeah, me neither. However this past Sunday he got the call and not only outdueled Toronto's Roy Halladay but held the Blue Jays scoreless in the six innings before turning it over to the bullpen for the team shutout. For all of Red Sox GM Theo Epstein's seemingly failed experimental signings (i.e: John Smoltz, Brad Penny) this season, it seems he always has a back up plan. Could he have predicted Byrd's impressive season debut? Absolutely not. But then again, he couldn't have predicted Smoltz and Penny's shortcomings as American League pitchers either.

I remember when I saw Byrd's name as the starter for Boston. My first initial reaction was "Really? THAT guy is still a Red Sox?" I was so sure he had been waived or traded away for some minor league prospect during the offseason. It was truly news to me he was still with the organization. You can only imagine my surprise coming across his name on the Red Sox homepage. But, maybe even more surprising was how well he stepped up. When Boston needed a pitcher, he threw a gem allowing the Sox to get a win and build a four-game lead in the AL Wild Card race over the Texas Rangers.

With pitchers Tim Wakefield having no timetable for his next scheduled start and Daisuke Matsuzaka still out, right now would be an excellent time to have Byrd step in as a replacement for either one. Imagine a Boston starting rotation of: Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Tim Wakefield (more likely to come back this season than Dice-K), and Paul Byrd. It may not be a Hall of Fame starting five but it'll likely get the job done when the time comes.

Evelyn loves.. sports?!?

Dear Readers,

If you're currently reading this right now, you might be asking yourself: Who's Evelyn? Why does she love sports? And why should I care? Well, it's not quite so easy (although it won't hurt to read the "About Me" section on the right) but perhaps you can give me a chance and find some answers in reading the rest of what I have to say.

If you have any further questions, they probably range from: Why the Bruins? Why the Red Sox? But more importantly, why the Bruins AND Red Sox? Why not any other mix of Boston based sports teams? Well, to be honest I'm not really entirely sure why either. I only know that ever since I was 13 and first discovered NESN (New England Sports Network for all you non-New Englanders out there), I knew I was in love.

Coincidently, the only sports shown through NESN are the Boston Red Sox and Bruins which may have had an effect on the creation of a blog featuring the aforementioned. I adore the Celtics (I've been known to occasionally sport a Paul Pierce #34 jersey around campus) and the Patriots have my utmost respect, but my heart belongs to the other two teams in Beantown.

Let me start off my explaining: my parents are not sports fans. That's not to say they completely hated them, but more so, they just didn't particularly care. My father would watch a couple of Celtics games here and there, but he was never what you were consider a "diehard NBA fan" by any means. You see, my parents owned their own restaurant and thus had very little time for sports. I don't blame them. However, this only adds more mystique to my own self-discovery towards the sports world I'd like to believe.

I was a gymnast for five years until the age of 10. One of my earliest memories is watching Shannon Miller (my idol growing up) compete on the balance beam in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. After I was done with gymnastics, I had the opportunity to take up figure skating but decided against it (still a decision I horribly regret to this day -- with those skating skills, I wish I would have learned to take up ice hockey). However, instead I just kind of tapered away from sports for a few years until one fateful day.

Not surprisingly, I found myself sitting in front of a television. Flipping through the channels I came upon a Red Sox game. I didn't really know the rules of the game but I found myself enamored with what was happening on the TV screen. I was rooting for Boston and I had really no idea why except that they were the home team. They represented Massachusetts and somehow I felt a connection through that. I started to watch more and more of their games. I taught myself the rules, got to know the players, and suddenly I was addicted. Once their season was over, I started to pay notice to the Bruins, fell into a similar routine and well, as they say... the rest is history.

So if you are still reading, that's my story. I've always loved sports, even before I was consciously aware of it. I chose the Red Sox and Bruins simply because it all started with them. Hopefully that was engaging enough to keep you coming back for more. If so, I look forward to sharing some of my sports thoughts with you. If not, thanks for stopping by anyway.

Welcome or goodbye,
Evelyn

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Hi everyone who sees this.