Happy Columbus Day!

In Fourteen-Hundred and ninety-two

The history books all say

Columbus sailed the ocean blue

And discovered Americay

Today we celebrate the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. Well, he didn’t actually discover it. There were, like, already people living here. But he discovered it for Europeans. Although, the Vikings had been here about 500 years before him. So, he discovered it for Europeans who wrote things down neatly in well-kept books. Except, he actually landed in the Bahamas. OK. So, today we celebrate Christopher Columbus landing in the Bahamas! But, that’s not the real important part. What’s even more important is that during his stay, he snuck over and (re)discovered Hispaniola. That, of course, is the island that currently houses the Dominican Republic. And that is very important to Red Sox fans. The DR is the birthplace of the greatest pitcher in Red Sox (if not all) history, Pedro Martinez. The greatest right-handed hitter in Red Sox (if not all) history, Manny Ramirez. The greatest clutch hitter in Red Sox (if not all) history, David Ortiz. It was also the birthplace of current Red Sox star Adrian Beltre. Not a bad collection of talent there. So, thank you Christopher Columbus for alerting us to a fantastic hotbed of baseball abilities.

In related news, (I’m sure it’s related in some way) the Giants eliminated the Braves in four games. Yup. Another series went exactly as I predicted. I am just on fire this year. But, the Braves elimination meant the end of the managerial career of Bobby Cox. He received a fantastic round of applause from the fans. The Giants players even halted their celebration to stand and applaud for him. (If the Yankees had done that, it would have been the lead headline today. “Classy Yankees Join in Honoring Opposing Manager”) I guess the real question is, can I count managers in my list of great players I have seen live? I saw Bobby Cox manage the Braves a couple times in Fenway. I should be able to add him to a list somehow, right? He’ll be a Hall-of-Famer eventually. I should get some credit for that, I think.

Go Rays!