No fans in Oakland

The Red Sox beat the Athletics 9-0 last night and I was able to stay awake long enough to see four innings of the game. Also, the thing I remember most about the game is the fact that there were way more empty seats than there were fans.

When I say way more, I mean it looked to me like there were twenty empty seats for every occupied seat.

Here's a screen capture of Yoshido rounding third base. It shows the stands behind the Athletics dugout.

Trust me, that was the most crowded section of the stadium. Everywhere else was an empty wasteland of green seats. Apparently almost no one goes to see the Athletics play baseball.

No wonder they want to move to Las Vegas...

So anyways, it was a good game for the Red Sox and Houck had an excellent outing. He went six innings, gave up three hits, zero runs, zero walks and struck out ten.

They remain in fanless Oakland for game two of their three-game series. First pitch is once again at 9:40 tonight and I hope to continue my streak of watching at least four innings.

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In other baseball news, today was the MiLBs opening day and NESN is carrying the Buffalo Bisons @ Worcester Red Sox game.

Watching this game, I'm looking forward to taking The Professor and heading out for a few games this season. Polar Park is a really nice place to watch a baseball game. Easy in and out of Worcester on I-290, cheap parking, reasonable ticket prices, comfortable seats, and a genuinely good baseball team.

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As for the Bruins, they take on the Predators this evening. Puck drops at 8:00 and I expect that game will end before the baseball game starts.

There are only seven games left in the regular season and I'm not entirely sure what the seedings will be but if the Bruins can maintain first place in the Atlantic, they should at least have home ice advantage during the divisionals.

Then again, they had home ice advantage last season and they still managed to get their ass kicked during the playoffs...

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For the record, there are still no grass sprouts in my dirt.

While I watch hockey and baseball, you can enjoy these links:

• According to the weather dweebs, us Massachusettians (I just made that word up) will be among the few who are able to see the upcoming eclipse.



• If you are dumb enough to get a Waffle House tattoo, you are dumb enough to think you can get away without paying for it.



• If you are ever in Derbyshire, England, beware of the attack sheep.



• When it comes to flinging poop, make sure you know your regulations.



• If you are looking for a new job and you don't have a peanut allergy, look no further.



• I've been inside the Tropicana. It was a crappy, run-down joint and I felt sticky after I walked out.