The Many Faces of Roger Clemens.

Knowing that one of my own beloveds might find his way onto the list, I'm trying very hard to temper my glee at the Alex Rodriguez story.

I also feel kind of bad for my cousin's husband. Born and raised in Vermont, he was a huge Roger Clemens fan--so much so that his two-year-old dog is called Clemens. When Roger left, Cousin-in-Law Tom decided that he was no longer going to be a Red Sox fan. He threw his allegiance to the Yankees and, as it turned out, it was good timing on his part. Recently I learned that his two favorite current Yankees are Andy Pettitte (hee!) and Alex Rodriguez (double hee!). I'm sure that there's a joke to be made about him only liking PED-users but I don't think he'd take too kindly to it--beside having the major character flaw of being a Yankee fan, he's kind of a humorless guy.

Tomorrow afternoon's (2/8) programming on the MLB Network might be perfect for him, though. At noon, a fire-balling twenty-three-year-old Clemens fans twenty Mariners. And then at 3:00, a paunchier thirty-three-year-old Clemens logs his last win as a member of the Red Sox and strikes out twenty Tigers in the process.

The Way We Were.

Admittedly, I wasn't as excited about the MLB network as some people. I'd watched the preview with Haze and a very old looking Harold Reynolds but I kind of tucked it into the back of my mind as something to check out if there was nothing else on. It wasn't going to be appointment television.

Tonight, though, I watched the 2004 World Series highlights show. I hadn't seen those games since 2004 and in that time I must have romanticized them and glossed over their awfulness. I didn't remember them being that bad. Back then I'd driven home the sixty-ish miles from school each day to watch the series with my Dad. We'd watched the first three games together but my Dad bailed on game four in the second or third inning, too nervous to watch. I stuck it out but kept repeating to myself, mantra-like: "They don't have to win this game. The don't have to win this game." And the final out? I guess that was one of the times when time stands still. I distinctly remember sitting on the floor of the den and having the mantra change to: "Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God." followed by "He's going to throw the ball into the stands. This whole thing is going to come unraveled." It seemed too quick when I just saw it.

Yet somehow I didn't expect those games to still have the emotional impact that they did. But with the interviews of Curt, Pedro, Millar--I might even be able to hug Johnny Damon right now. Michael came home shortly after the program ended and I was still walking around with a big goofy smile on my face. Excerpt from ensuing conversation:

Michael: Hey! What are you so happy about?

Me: The Red Sox won the 2004 World Series.

Michael [looking confused]: OK?

The point? There is a point to this ramble. The program started with the ALCS which, even knowing the glorious outcome, was still gut-wrenching. If you're up to it (and who wouldn't want to watch a Yankee beat down, especially one that comes at the hands of the reviled Curt Schilling), game 6 of that ALCS will be shown for free at MLB.com/Live tomorrow at 11am.