A day after Dontrelle Willis, the great Florida rookie pitcher, won his seventh straight start against the Mets, the same Marlins gave up fourteen runs in the first inning to the Red Sox! Fourteen! For only the second time in 12 decades of MLB, a batter (Johnny Damon) had three hits in the same inning! Three! The score is now up to 18 to 1 as the auto-refresher on Yahoo keeps updating the score like some crazy jackpot night in a Las Vegas slot machine. Nomar is one of the few Boston batters that hasn't had an RBI. The timing looks ripe for a non-pitcher to pitch for the Marlins tonight. I told you Florida baseball is entertaining!

We started the second stage of our Florida trip yesterday as we moved from North Palm Beach to Ft. Lauderdale. It sure is a chore to have to be in paradise. The move was the reason for the lack of a post yesterday though the Fan usually takes Thursdays off anyway.

So far neither Bo Hart or Albert Pujols has a hit in the Cardinals/Kansas City game. The Cards still lead in the game 2 to 1 as Edmonds has hit his 22nd homer and Rolens has hit his 14th. Even Tino Martinez is hot for the Cardinals. I wouldn't want my team to be facing them right now. If Pujols keeps up his pace, there will be a .400 watch soon in the same path as the George Brett/Jon Olerud/Tony Gwynn efforts of the past.

The Boston/Florida score is now 19 to 5. Man, those umpires in that game are going to get tired.

Continuing my vacation reading, I'm currently reading the fascinating "October Men" by Roger Kahn. The book discusses the 1978 Yankee team and the history leading up to it. I remember that team and those times so clearly. I had just been married a year and as such became a New Hampshire resident after growing up in New Jersey. Thanks to Boston's Channel 38 (pre-cable days), we got to watch most of the Red Sox games. I was torn that year and for that playoff game. I was a lifelong Yankee fanatic but watching the Red Sox that whole year, I became the dreaded convert. I still loved the Yankees best, but I couldn't hate the Red Sox anymore.

As happy as I was for the Yankees to win the game and head to the playoffs, I was sad for the Red Sox. I was not, however, sad to have Yaz pop up to lose the final Red Sox chance. The book recounts all that history as well as the demise of Billy Martin and a lot of the underpinnings of that Yankee team. It's a great read and highly recommended.