Sports Redux: Road Trips and Trip-Ups

Sometimes, we in Boston take our Sox for granted forget how good we've got it. That's why every so often, the Bostonist Sports Department likes to hit the road and investigate the conditions at other ballparks around the land. So we found ourselves in Pittsburgh this weekend, watching the woeful Pirates play the hapless Reds at the sublime PNC Park.

We forget just how lucky we are, when we hear mutterings from a Pittsburgh crowd like, "When did this guy become our closer?" and "Why does this closer give up so many home runs?" and "When will they shoot more hot dogs into the crowd?". Wearing a Red Sox hat to the game isn't a symbol of aggression, happily, as Pirate fans seem more than happy to talk baseball with out-of-towners. So any bitterness over the inaugural 1903 World Series is long-gone.

PNC Park is a treasure, though; probably the best-looking ballpark in the Majors (besides Fenway, we're compelled to type). The park is built right along the Allegheny River with majestic views of the Pittsburgh skyline and its several yellow bridges. And with attendance low, they give stuff away to get people to the park! This weekend was a celebration of Pittsburgh's Negro League heritage; we scored replica Josh Gibson statues and Homestead Grays T-shirts.

So when you can't get tickets at Fenway next year, need to see baseball, and don't want to give any money to a New York team, think about the trip out to the Steel City. Stop in Cooperstown on the way out. Don't try to drive back in one day (which reminds us...where's the coffee?!?). Enjoy some low-stakes Major League ball.

Meanwhile, on the West Coast, the Red Sox had a close call with disaster. Coco Crisp was the victim of a collision involving the Mariner Moose and his ATV. Coco was about to run out to center field when the Moose came racing in and sideswiped him, knocking him to his knees but leaving him unhurt. Coco says he plans to have some moose jerky next time the Sox are in Seattle.

That was the only scary moment in a 9-2 Sox rout, in which Josh Beckett got his 14th win and Manny Ramirez hit his 19th home run. Good thing, since the relentless Yankees won again (and are now half a game back of the wild card) and the 7-game cushion feels smaller and smaller by the day. Curt Schilling is welcomed back to the team tonight, as the Sox head to Anaheim.