The Post Mortem

There is a certain responsibility in sitting in the front row of a baseball game. Above anything else, you must be an asset to the home team. A proverbial tenth player.

Ben Affleck is not one of these guys.

Angels first baseman Howie Kendrick went into the stands on Sunday night to rob Alex Gonzalez of a hit�despite making contact with super fan, Affleck. The star of Mallrats was sitting in the front row and made a cardinal mistake of allowing Kendrick to reach into the seating area to make the catch. You can't do that. Once a player reaches into the crowd, they are fair game. You can do nearly anything you want to prevent the player from making the catch. Affleck did nothing as he was more preoccupied with making the catch.

And here Red Sox fans are supposed to be more sophisticated than the rest.

Affleck should have grabbed Kendrick's glove or done anything to prevent the catch from being made (while not leaning into the field of play). Only Curt Schilling prevented Affleck from being the biggest dope of the evening.

• Weaver Fever: Rookie phenomena Jered Weaver left Saturday's game inline for the victory, but was felled by the Angels typically reliable Scot Shields. Still, Weaver was more impressive eluding jams than he has been beating the Royals and Indians.
  
• It�s amazing the Angels were able to win on Sunday despite, at times, looking like a bumbling high school team. John Lackey's misplay in the first inning, and Chone Figgins running blunder were a few of the lowlights. But it was the smug Schilling serving up beach balls that bailed the Angels out. Pray for those on the Red Sox message boards who will face Schillings' lashing out today.

• It�s always cringe-worthy when a commentator labels Lackey as the "Bulldog." Seriously, like you couldn't think of another nickname? But it's pretty cool when Orel Hershiser does it. And thank god for Mike Scioscia's former battery mate for keeping John Miller�s Red Sox crush to a minimum. Hey, maybe smug Schilling wasn't just missing his spots, maybe the Angels were just cranking the guy. It happens some times.
  
• Having Bonnie Berstein on the broadcast doesn't hurt, either.
  
• Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell is a little too clean cut for the Red Sox. He needs to grow out a beard or something. Or get traded to the Padres. Oh, and nice temper tantrum after striking out last night. Lowell tried to pretend he was hit by a pitch and then he lashed out at the umpire. You can see the footage here.

AND FINALLY
Anybody notice the temper tantrum that Danika Patrick had on Sunday? Well, it wasn't so much a temper tantrum than her pouting like a junior high girl who lost her Hello Kitty notebook. Seriously, can you butch up a touch?