Yeva, Begun

Elle Hibbert and the Yeva have made it to the Arctic Circle and have officially begun the 10,000-mile solo trip around the Arctic Ocean. Her current position at latitude 66°34’N will mark the start and the end of her circumnavigation.  From this starting point, roughly halfway between Norway and Iceland, she will sail eastward, passing north of Iceland before dipping south to pass around Greenland.

Sluggish winds slowed her 850-mile sail from Portsmouth, and she reluctantly had to start the Yeva's engine to get up north. The reluctance was that any fuel used just to teach the starting point would be fuel she wouldn't have if needed on the Arctic, but days lost just getting to the Arctic Circle cut into the short summer season in which the seas may be passable. 

There's no wind today and she's gliding along very slowly, but at least the voyage has finally started.

Rays 10, Red Sox 8

 

It's not just that we're back to losing (although - and I gotta be honest with you - I like it more when we win), it's the way we lost. The Red Sox finally called up top minor-league prospect Roman Anthony today, and in his MLB debut he went 0-4. To be fair, he did get an RBI in the ninth on a ground out, although to be fair, the Sox did have to pinch-hit for him in the 11th.

Yes, the 11th. That's the other reason this loss sucks so bad. The Sox tied it up in the bottom of the ninth, and then again in the bottom of the 10th. But then it was Zack Kelly time. Kelly loaded the bases with walks, and then walked in the winning run. The then gave up a grounder for another run. The Boston bats didn't have two more runs left in them to tie the game up a third time, and we lost after 11 (both after 11 innings and after 11 p.m.).

Okay, home loss. Seen that before and I'm getting used to it. Game 2 is tomorrow - lets see if we can salvage something from this series.      

Red Sox 11, Yankees 7

 

More than anyone could dare have hoped for - the embattled Boston Red Sox take two of three from the first-place Yankees in New York.

Kristian Campbell homered. Carlos Narvaez homered. Abraham Toro homered. Trevor Story homered. Rafael Devers homered. But all ESPN wanted to talk about for the last half hour of the broadcast was that Aaron Judge homered in the 1st and 9th. 

Fuck ESPN and fuck the Yankees. They couldn't even win a three-game home series against a fourth-place, sub-.500 team.

This is not going to be an all-star year for the Red Sox. This isn't going to be one of those seasons that families talk about over New England winters in the coming years. But moments like these, beating the damn Yankees on their own field, are what makes staying tuned in this sorry-ass season worthwhile.

Next up: three games against Tampa Bay at Fenway, followed by a three-game series in Fenway against these same Yankees. 

Red Sox 10, Yankees 7

 

Just when you've given up hope, a miracle. The Red Sox win a game in the Bronx.

Things looked a little shaky and all too familiar in the 2nd inning, when Garrett Crochet gave up a three-run homer. But he settled down and went a total of six innings with nine strikeouts, the the Boston bullpen got six more Ks in the next three innings. Meanwhile, the Sox erupted for four runs in the third followed by a two-run homer by Romy González in the fourth for an 8-3 lead.

But no lead is safe for this year's Red Sox, and this was in Yankee Stadium, the Mordor of MLB. The damn Yankees started chipping away at the lead, an RBI single here, a double there, and soon the score was a scary 8-7.

And then the embattled Trevor Story (.222), who had earlier cleared the bases with a three-RBI double in the second, singled to center with bases loaded in the 9th, scoring all three runners, and the Sox won the game 10-7.

Sorry, Yankees, but we won't get swept in the Bronx. Not this weekend.

Game three, the rubber match, is at 7:10.

Yankees 9, Red Sox 6

 

Personally, I was cheering for the rain that delayed the start of the game to postpone it altogether - preferably to about 2027.

Buehler gave up five runs on two homers in the first, and then two more runs in the second. It's hard for any team to dig themselves out from a hole like that. Boston attempted a comeback with a few HRs of our own (Mayer and Devers) and a smattering of RBIs, but this game was basically over before the third out in the bottom of the first.   

No point in looking at where Boston stands in the rankings relative to first place. The Sox are three games up from last place and five below .500. Oh, the summer of our discontent.

Yankees suck.

 

Yeva, Seaward

They're off! The seas have calmed a little and Ella Hibbert and the Yeva have left the port of Lerwick in the Shetland Islands and are off to the Arctic Circle, where they will attempt the first solo circumnavigation of the Arctic Ocean.

The Arctic is still a good ways off, about a four day voyage. For reference, here's a map showing Lerwick in relation to Glasgow (Scotland), the Arctic Circle, Bergen (Norway), and the Faroe Islands.    

Red Sox 11, Angels 9

All day yesterday, a little girl in Boston was so excited to spend the next day with her Daddy. Her heart beat with pride as she took the note to her teacher excusing her from school the next day so that her father could take her to Fenway Park. "Daddy's taking me to the Red Sox game," she told her teacher, her classmates, and anyone else she could find to listen. 

This morning, they drove in Daddy's car to the train station, and then took the T to Kenmore. She held Daddy's hand as they walked through the crowds in the Square and she saw all the other fans, the other little girls and boys with their Mommies and Daddies, the BU students milling about, and the drunks, addicts, and vagrants sitting on the streets, asking for change. Daddy pointed out the famous Citgo sign to her, and then her heart leaped when they crossed the David Ortiz Bridge over the Mass Pike, turned onto Lansdowne  Street, and she saw Fenway Park in its own self for her very first time. 

They ate hot dogs and peanuts, she leafed through the program, and they watched the game. The L.A. Angels scored four runs in the first inning, and the mood in the stadium (and Daddy's mood) turned sour. But then the Sox scored five runs that same inning and everything suddenly seemed joyful and fun again. 

It was a see-saw after that. The Angels scored three more runs in the second inning, but the Sox tied it back up with two runs in the fourth. The Angels took another lead with a run in the top of the eighth, but the Sox came right back and tied in back up with a run in the bottom of that inning. 

Then, in the bottom of the ninth, the score tied 9-9, one on and one out, Ceddanne Rafaela hit a two-run, walk-off  homer 329 feet into right field, and the Sox won the game. She and Daddy and all the other fans in the ballpark were very, very happy and it was a very, very good day.

She forgot her souvenir program - it was left under the seat with all the stale beer and week-old popcorn - but on the entire trip back home on the T to the station and then in the car to the house, she could still hear the crack of Ceddanne's bat and the roar of the crowd as the ball left the field.

She loves her Daddy and her Daddy loves her so, so much and they both love their Red Sox, the greatest baseball team ever.  

Yankees suck.

Yeva, Beset

 

With 18-foot waves and 45 mph winds still blowing through the north coast of the Shetland Islands, Ella Hibbert decided to spend one more day harbored in Lerwick, Scotland before embarking for the Arctic Ocean. Also, she bruised her foot while installing a grab rail next to her captain’s chair aboard the Yeva and will give herself a day to let the swelling subside. 

Once finally at sea, it will take her a few days sail to reach the starting line at the Arctic Circle for her solo trip around the Arctic Ocean. 

Angels 4, Red Sox 3

 

"Kenley Jansen gets the win" . . . that has to be the cruelest part of this loss - our former star reliever returns to beat us on our home field.

Ceddanne Rafaela hit a two-run homer to tie it in the 6th, but the Sox had no offense after that and the game went into extra innings. L.A. got a go-ahead run in the top of the 10th, and the Sox continued to have no offense - Carlos Narváez struck out swinging, Trevor Story struck out swinging, and then Rafaela popped out. Game over, another Red Sox loss.

Ten games back, five under .500. A mere four games up from last place. These are the times that try men's souls. 

The Sox will attempt to avoid being swept at home Wednesday afternoon (1:35). Giolito (1-1, 4.78) vs. Jose Soriano (4-5, 3.41). Somewhere in Boston, a Dad has arranged to take the day off from work to take his daughter to the ballpark and cheer for the Red Sox. Somewhere in Boston, a daughter may stop trusting her father and could lose her faith in God.

Arctic Epic

Ella Hibbert, a 28-year-old sailor, has set out on a solo voyage around the Arctic Ocean, a trip made possible only by the climate-induced melting of sea ice. The voyage will be the first-ever attempt to circumnavigate the Arctic Circle solo, completing both the northwest and northeast passages in a single trip.

Hibbert set sail from England on Saturday, travelling towards Iceland and Norway, where she will officially begin the 10,000-mile journey alone in her boat, the Yeva. The route, expected to take five months, passes over the north of Iceland, down around southern Greenland, up through Canada, and across the north of Alaska before a long leg through Russian waters back to Norway.

During the voyage, she will likely face severe sleep deprivation and will only be able to sleep for 20 minutes at a time once she hits the Arctic Circle. Other challenges include hostile wildlife such as polar bears, unpredictable conditions, huge waves, wind chills down to minus 30° C, snow build-up on the deck, icebergs, and fast-moving sea ice.

Born in Germany, Hibbert grew up in a military family and was raised mainly in England and France. Leaving home at 18, she briefly lived in Australia before working for four years as a divemaster on superyachts, which gave her the chance to sail and dive all over the world. She spent three years getting ready for the Arctic, campaigning, training, finding sponsors, and reaching out for advice, as well as finding, crowdfunding, and buying and fitting out the Yeva. 

As of last evening, she was in the Shetland Islands, about four days sailing from her starting line for the Arctic circumnavigation. Sailors at the port are huddled down, hiding out from tomorrow’s forecast windy weather, so she's tending to some tasks to keep herself busy until she can set back out again.

Angels 7, Red Sox 6

Richard ("Don't Call Me Dick") Fitts gives up six runs in the first inning. 

That's all that needs to be said about this game. End of conversation. Fitts only lasted one inning in this, his second game since coming off the DL, but it was enough to tank the game. And then Boston's valiant six-run comeback was thwarted by an Angels' homer in the sixth, so I guess there's that, too.

Four games below .500. Fourth place and nine back from first.  Alex Bregman, Triston Casas, Masataka Yoshida, Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, Justin Slaten, Liam Hendriks, and Chris Murphy all on the DL. 

When does the 2026 season start?

Boston Bounces Back!

 

Red Sox 3, Braves 1! The Sox win the road series in Atlanta as Trevor Story hits a three-run double in the first inning. After Trevor's hit - nearly a grand slam home run, but the ball hit the top of the wall - it was pretty quiet and the game settled down to a pitcher's duel, the kind of game that Boston usually loses as of late. But Garrett Crochet struck out 12 over seven innings and relievers Weissert and Chapman added two more Ks over two shutout innings, and Boston wins the game.

The Dodgers are working on a sweep of New York this weekend (they won the first two games), so Boston could make up a little bit of the distance in the standings between the team and first place, but it's still a mighty long road ahead.

Boston's next series is against Los Angeles too, but fortunately for us not the Dodgers. Starting tomorrow, the Sox host the LA Angels (26-32) for three games at Fenway, and then, uh oh, it's off to the Bronx for the first series of the season against the Yankees. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Tomorrow, Richard Fitts (0-2, 2.70) will face the Angels' Tyler Anderson (2-2, 3.39). Let's just take it one game at a time.