Sports Redux: Father's Day Edition

Once upon a time, in a land that was starting to feel far, far away, Manny Ramierez used to hit home runs. Big, deep, towering shots that left Red Sox fans cheering like mad and opposing pitchers more than a little nervous when #24 stepped up to the plate.

The slugger took Sox fans on a trip down memory lane on Saturday, snapping a 50-at-bat homerless-streak and delivering the only run Boston needed to take the second in this three-game series against the San Francisco Giants.

A fourth-inning shot into the Monster seats gave Ramierez his 479th career homer and, as the score indicates, was the only home run of Saturday's showdown. That means, of course, that Barry Bonds is still homerless at Fenway. The slugger, who has hit only two home runs in about a month, reportedly slunk out of the park yesterday without meeting with the media. The homer tally remains at 747 and Boston fans haven't had to throw any balls back onto the field. WIn-win!

This was a significant game in several respects. The Manny homer was nice to see, but the Sox offense again faltered (Giants pitcher Matt Cain held Boston to three hits in seven innings). Bhe big thing the Sox can take away from the game is a vote of confidence for Daisuke Matsuzaka (seven innings, eight strikeouts, three hits, three walks). The golden arm proved that he is capable of working with a sliver of a lead and actually pulling out the win - something Dice-K has not been able to prove up to this point. It was clear post-game that the pitcher realized the significance.

"I was able to reach inside myself and display a side of myself that I haven't been able to show up to that point," he said. And that said to me, hopefully, that I'm heading in a new and good direction."

Boston wraps up the SF series with an afternoon game that pits Tim Wakefield against Matt Morris.

Manny photo by flickr user Waldo Jaquith