Sox Comntinue to Sink; Blow 3-0 Lead in 9th

Well, tonight there are two different things Sox to report. Unfortunately, one of them is tonight's game against the Mariners. The other was a brief trip back in Sox history to the Spaceman. But more on that in a moment. Tonight, against a guy who is arguably one of the half dozen best pitchers in the AL, "King" Hernandez, the Sox took a three zip lead midway through the game on a couple of hits followed by a shot by Cespedes that cleared everything in left, the Monster and everything else, giving the Hose that 3-0 lead. The Sox pitching was just as solid, staring with the Hose starter and continuing through the guys from the pen. Of the latter, Badenhop and Layne tossed 1 1/3 hitless, allowing only a single freebie between them. Enter the 9th with Koji on the mound. Should be lights out, no? Exactly! NO! At least not tonight. Koji worked it to two outs and a man on, the Sox still holding that three zip lead--and then he surrendered five (count 'em) runs, and the game. Too bad. This was a real waste. In a twinkling he went from almost untouchable to unbelievably touchable. That's the way the season's gone for our team.
The only good news today was the aforementioned Cespedes shot, and Papi's continued consecutive hit streak, now six for six, counting yesterday's four for four. Away from the Fens, some good news for the Sox: maybe very good news. The Sox won the bidding war among eight teams, including the Evil Empire, for Cuban outfield superstar Castillo. Seven years for a total deal of about $78 million, most of it back loaded. Next year could be an interesting year in the Hub outfield--Havana northeast.

Now for the other bit--Sox history with the Spaceman.  For those of you old enough to remember the Sox of the late 60's through the 70's, one of the outstanding characters was a southpaw by the name of Bill Lee. Better known as "Spaceman" due to his antics and outspokenness on a wide variety of issues from baseball to politics, to counterculture issues, he was a pretty damn good starter, probably a number 2 or 3 on one of today's rotations in MLB. His career stats were 119-90 and a 3.62 ERA, with 713 K's. The career lasted until early 1982, and of the roughly thirteen years he was in the Show, Spacemen pitched for the Sox for ten years. He also was an All Star in 1973. He is a member of the Red Sox Hall of Fame, holding the record for most games pitched by a lefty (321), and the third highest total W's by a Red Sox southpaw at 94. He's also written four books on baseball, the general tack of them being the more 'unusual' stuff and people ijn baseball from his point of view. So, you ask, what has Bill Lee got to do with Sox baseball today? Well, simple. At the age of 65, a time when most former MLB players are showing up aty old timers days, if anywhere, Lee at age 65 signed a contract a couple of years ago to pitch for the San Rafael Pacifics, an independent minor league team. Tonight, at age 68, the Pacifics had a Bill Lee Retirement night, and the Spaceman actually pinch hit during the game.  Figuring Sox Nation citizens would find the news interesting, I snuck down to the Pacifics 'dugout' and walked up to Lee between innings. I introduced myself as a "Boston native', whereupon the Spaceman grabbed ny hand for a good solid shake. I asked if he'd do a selfie for the Duffys Cliff site and he was happy to oblige. Keep your fingers crossed; it should be up tomorrow. Tried to upload tonight and no luck, but we'll get it done tomorrow.