Sox in the morning

It was into the wee hours this morning when I arrived home after rehearsal. Ravenous and wound-up, I grabbed microwave popcorn and settled crosslegged on my bed with a bottle of Smithwicks to check e-mail. No sooner had I checked in than so did my cross-country friend:

1:18 AM
C-2: Dude, you watching the Sox game???
Karin: ....ah, no....just got home from rehearsal. It's pouring here.
C-2: We just tied the game -- after going into the bottom of the 9th down 3 to 1.Top of the 10th now

A much-rain-delayed seven-hour game loss to the Angels. Together, 1000 miles apart, C-2 and I watched it. He via live stream on MLB.com;  me, via the same site's slower pitch-by-pitch version. When I explained I wasn't going to pay $99 for a subscription to the live feed, he replied:

1:26 AM
C-2:  go to foleys, silly
K:  Ugh. I should. I just biked home from Central Square wearing a skirt. In the rain.
C-2:  hot
K:  YOU should go to Foley's.
C-2:  perhaps i will
me: Good. You can pick me up. I don't feel like moving my car...
C-2: ok.  wait there
K: With bated breath, of course.

Eventually we shut down the flirtation and began to play-by-play. Some sample exchanges:

1:35 AM
C-2:  bottom of 10th
K: Indeed. Who's coming up?
C-2:  well, sadly NOT gonzales cause we took him out for a pinch runner in the 8th

1:39 AM
K: Youk!
C-2:  :)

1:43 AM
C-2: nice! lowrie double
runners on 2nd and 3rd
K: Full count....
Followed by a strike-out.
C-2: f***.
brb, gonna go smoke

2:02 AM  - Bottom of the 11th
C-2:  They're playing again in 11.5 hours
K:  Ellsbury homer.  I'm calling it.
Ellsbury strikes out.

2:05 AM
C-2:  maybe in the 13th or 14th
K:  Oh well. At least by then their pitching staff will be depleted, too, so the chances are better.
C-2:   hey, maybe the game will go right up to the next one! they just won't stop!
K:  What is the record for most consecutive innings?
C-2:  a LOT.  Dice K is warming up
K:  ? Really ?  You mean, for his start later today?
C-2:  yeah. haah. no

2:11 AM
K:  Torii's my man from MN....Used to go watch him.
C-2:  The fans are taunting him.  (Well, the 100 fans left)
K:  Oy, and he's going to get walked...
C-2:  he did.  grr
K:  This guy should be a cinch.
C-2:  sweet.  he was.
K:  You see everything about 5 seconds faster than it registers for me....
C-2:   :)

2:21 AM  - Bottom of the 12th
C-2:  oh f***  f*** f*** f*** f***   your guy was thrown out at the plate
K:  F*** is right.  Trying to get home from first?
C-2:  wow wow wow error.   runners at first and third.  F***  grounded out.  and we go to the 13th
K:  I need another beer.
C-2:  me too.  but i have none.

In the end we could have used the second beers. The Angels loaded the bases, put in 2 runs in the top of the 13th and that was all she wrote, at 2:45.

I share this exchange after being struck, again, how even in distance and with his girlfriend, C-2 and I just get along better than most. I have a show opening tomorrow night and staying up an extra 2 hours to chat a game in real time is not necessary. But it was fun without effort....something that's rare.

Of course I would have preferred to be at Foley's, watching it with him and I wasn't. But I'll take the comfort as a sign our friendship has legs, despite the distance.