Sunday, April 22, 2001

Untitled Document

"These vagabond shoes . . . "

''There's so much excitement and energy here, with the Red Sox-Yankee rivalry,'' he said. ''It's a great thing to be able to come through in a place like this because if you can produce here, you can pretty much play anywhere.'' Shea Hillenbrand's comments after playing in his first Red Sox-Yankee series.

Did he intentionally allude to the refrain from the Sinatry tune New York, New York?

Hillendrand deliverd a homer and key double to drive in 2 runs toward the 7-3 victory for the Red Sox.

And then there is Manny Ramirez. who is hitting .403 with four homers and 19 RBIs. That's 19 RBIs in 18 games. Unbelievable. And with Nomar out, from a fan's perspective it's comforting to have a true best in the game to root for when he's at the plate. Without him and with Nomar out, there would be, at least for me, much more of a sinking feeling going on. Ramirez takes all of our projected hopes on his shoulders and delivers.

''I haven't accomplished nothing,'' Ramirez says. Beautiful.