Road trips and off days… in some ways they make me restless, since I can’t pick up the cameras.  But since I’m always, always behind on editing, it does give me a chance to try to catch up!  So if you will, let’s set the wayback machine for June 15, in Cincinnati…

A beautiful Sunday morning!  Justin Masterson smiles at Daisuke Matsuzaka wielding a bat.

More smiling! Jacoby Ellsbury with some warmup throws.

It’s officially an epidemic! Sean Casey with a big grin.  One of my favorite things about seeing the Red Sox on the road is actually what I’m documenting here: a full BP session, which usually starts with stretching and joking around.

Mike Lowell continues my theme.

Manny and Alex Gonzalez.  I miss Gonzo.

… Does Gonzo miss me?

Well, he gave me my belly shot!

Looking at these then, I was nostalgic for these two as teammates; now there’s a different edge with Manny gone.

Bronson Arroyo inspects Coco’s cornrows.  Sorry, Bronson, he’s got you beat there!

Justin fields a tough hop.  (He seems to have a tough audience back there, but you’ll notice that they’re all far enough out not to have to do much!)

Whoops–looks like Justin’s got critics in the infield, too!

I can’t tell if Kevin Cash is laughing with Dustin Pedroia, or at him!

More nostalgia, since Brandon Moss now calls Pittsburgh home.

Bartolo Colon, not satisfied with three balls in hand, goes for a fourth.

Dusty Baker’s son threw out the first pitch.  (Dusty tried to leave him out there too long, of course.)

Uh oh.  The real action is starting, and Mike Timlin will not smile.
 

There’s a part of my heart reserved for players I ought not to have any connection to, like Homer Bailey.  I just like the kid.

Ells with a successful slide into second.  It’s hard to shoot anything else when he’s on base!

Josh Beckett on the mound.

Mmmmmmm… Jason Varitek samples his batting gloves.

Coco Crisp with a biiiig swing…

… followed by a nice lope around the bases…

… and a helmet skritchie from Tek.

Not to be outdone is Jacoby…

… with a big swing and a lope of his own!

Tek in his Father’s Day accented gear.  I’m sure you’ve noticed the ribbons and the blue eye “black.”

Pedie has a big swing to end all big swings…

… but it won’t be quite enough this time.

Josh Beckett at the plate.  I was hoping for a home run…

… but had to settle for Coco looking philosophical about being left on base.

More laughter!  And here a little sympathy for Julio Lugo, despite my love for Jed Lowrie.

I admire many things about Jacoby Ellsbury’s game, but there just no point in denying that he’s alarmingly photogenic, too.

David Aardsma.  Note that it gets a bit easier to shoot this angle when the fans thin out a bit.

A skip ahead to postgame; Manny attempts some unexpected therapeutic massage on Colon, with a baseball. 

Have I been busted?  Javy Lopez smirks, Gary Tuck smiles, Craig Hansen… well, hang in there, Craig, in six weeks you’ll be safe from me!