Here's the roundup of all the other bits and pieces from Thursday night. I of course have to give some major love to my favorite Sox player who doesn't actually play for the Sox. He's as much a part of the team now as ever, even though he suits up for a division rival, which is quite an accomplishment. For delivering this rally cry before the game, and for generally being awesome and hilarious and grinder-y every day of the year, I gotta give my Baseball Boyfriend of the Day honors to Kevin Millar. How he manages to stay employed by the Orioles, when I'm pretty positive he shows up to practice wearing Red Sox gear, is beyond me.

And then there's Manny. Dear, sweet, wonderful, amazing, astonishing, unbelievable Manny. The kerfluffle over his comments on Wednesday amazes me- not because it surprises me that people overreacted, but because what he said was absolutely the truth and I can't believe people would freak out about it. If ballplayers stressed out about the game like the fans do, they'd never survive. They'd be a ball of shivering goo in the corner of the clubhouse. They have to disengage and step back and keep it in perspective. Doesn't mean they're not busting their butts. Doesn't mean they don't really, really want to win. They just can't make it a life and death matter, or they'd go insane.

So after Thursday night's win, Manny once again spoke to the press, to the shock and horror of Remy and Eck (Remy puts his head in his hands, saying, "Oh, no" while Eck repeats, "No! No!"). As befits his status as the King Of All He Surveys, Manny held court in the locker room wearing an obscenely loud Barney-purple tie while Julio Lugo holds a mic in his face and then chows down on dinner right next to him. One of the mob of reporters asks Manny about the homerun that wasn't a homerun, and he replies, "I thought it was out, but what can I say." Papi is sitting nearby, and hears this ticking time bomb of a question and walks over and grabs at Manny's hand and tries to pull him away, saying, "That's it. I don't want you to fuck up again." And then the whole group, Manny included, busts out into laughter -- while Lugo jokingly admonishes Manny, "Don't say nothing else!" It's such a warm, unguarded moment between teammates- and also between Manny and the monster called the "press" that often tries to get after him.

Papi also busts in on the interview a second time, but comes armed with a mic to bust on Manny about his outfit. "Hey, everybody wants to know... where's the funeral?" And more Manny laughter before he responds (about that awful purple tie), "I'm trying to take this tie to Colorado." Manny, my dear, I think all of Red Sox Nation will be happy to have you in purple ties as long as your heart desires if that gets us to a Wednesday matchup next week.

And finally, I can't go without acknowledging the in-game entertainment provided by the pirates of the Black Pearl. First, the national TV audience is introduced to the musical stylings of the Manny Delcarmen Bullpen Band (and it looks like they added a little special twist just for Doug Mirabelli, maybe as a birthday gift). Then Jonathan Papelbon is shown doing the "Y.M.C.A." along with the PA as he does his warmup runs in the bullpen. And the clip closes out with an encore rendition of the bullpen band, this time a solo virtuoso performance by Mr. Delcarmen.

I LOVE THIS TEAM.