78 Blues

I’m a Sox fan, and I have the 78 blues. I see a big Red Sox lead slowly slipping away, and I feel like I’m in a time warp. Was that Mike Torrez who started last nights game and gave up six runs in three innings? Was that Frank Duffy playing shortstop and misplaying a popup? Was that Don Zimmer in the clubhouse after the game telling reporters he was keeping Butch Hobson at third base despite 31 errors?  Has George Steinbrenner come back from the dead and been seen talking on the phone from his box in old Yankee Stadium? Was that Spaceman Lee going on the Clif and Claf show and calling his manager a gerbil? Was that the Sports Huddle last Sunday  night, with Eddie Andelman telling callers to refer to Zimmer as “Chiang Kai-Shek”? Is that 39-year old Carl Yastrzemski watching Bucky Dent’s fly ball settle above him in the net? Is that Lou Piniella in left field sticking out his glove and having a line drive miraculously settle in it?  Is that Luis Tiant responding to a question about the Sox fold and saying “Bool sheet”? Is that Bob Lemon managing the Yankees? Is that sore-armed Bill Campbell giving up a game-winning hit to the immortal Rick Bosetti of the last-place Blue Jays? Maybe tomorrow I’ll turn on the radio and hear the voice of the late, great Ned Martin.  

The images go on and on. Let’s hope the ending is happier this time.