Hey guys Im planning a trip back home this summer and will be getting tickets to see the Red Sox play the Indians in August. I havent been back home in about 5 years (living in Japan) so the last time I saw the Sox play was Summer of 2004 (for my Dads birthday..they lost to the Mariners) and Ive usually gotten seats in the Luge Box seats on the 3rd or 1st base side. 

This time Ill be taking my family and was looking at buying 6 tickets. My question to the community here is this: How are the Infield Grandstand seats for watching the game? Ive always gotten Luge boxes but buying 6 of them for my family is about 1000 bucks. I can get 6 grandstand tickets for about 600, but I dont mind paying the extra 400 if those infield bleacher seats are no good. Im looking at Grandstand sections 29,30 or 15,14. Also I found the right field box seats for 100 per which is good for my budget.

Anyway everyone in my family are huge baseball fans and love the game and of course want to have a good experience since it is a once every few years thing with me now.

Any advice would be great and thanks in advance!!

There is a trend I have been noticing recently watching our starting pitching. It would appear that they pitch better (with a few exceptions... I`m looking at you JB) when Jason Varitek is behind the place versus when Victor Matinez is calling the pitches. 

I hope you will follow below the fold and take a look at the results when we run the numbers, understand why we should not resign Martinez if we want to catch back up to the Devil Rays (man I just can`t stop calling em that, old habits and wishful thinking I guess) and why Jason Varitek is now and will always be the Captain of the Red Sox.

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Welcome again to the second addition of Along Yawkey Way where we take a look at the most recent news in Red Sox Nation and take a walk down memory lane at some of the lesser known facts about the club that calls home along yawkey way.

First up a preview of tonights game:

Lester Ready To Make the Leap to Elite

Tonights game is featuring the pitcher many in Red Sox Nation call the true ace of the team, Jon Lester.

While many of you may know a bit about his recovery from cancer I wanted to focus this morning a bit on the long and hard road Jon took on his way to becoming one of the best lefties on the Red Sox roster since Bill "the Spaceman" Lee and Lefty Grove. The following news articles outline how that experience made him a tougher, stronger pitcher (not that I`m saying getting cancer is a good thing, unless you REALLY want that medical marijauna).

Jon Lester Opens Up on the Cancer Curveball

Jon Lester Sharing Miracles

And really the quote that got me was this one:

"I think being a pitcher helped me out a lot because I have the will to fight. As a patient, you have good days and you have bad days, and the bad days make you appreciate the good days that much more. But being an athlete, when you have those bad days, you know not to give up. On the bad days I’d get up and wouldn’t feel sorry for myself, I wouldn’t lay in bed. I’d get up and do the things that I wanted to do.

Follow below the fold for a short news dump and some of the Red Sox history.

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Welcome to the first addition of "Along Yawkey Way", where we will be taking a stroll looking at some of the most recent news out of Red Sox nation as well as a look at the history of our storied club along the way.

First up is a little schadenfreude:

Red Sox Strike First, but Stay Tuned

There is nothing like hearing a Yankees fan whining to start the day, especially when they are whining about our Sox whooping up on them.

Looks like the mainstream media is starting to realize that our offense is not nearly as much a worry as previously thought:

WEEI: About that Red Sox Offense

Nashua Telegraph: For Defensive Team Plenty of Offense

While I`ll keep holding my breath until Big Papi`s OPS is closer to .900, this first game certainly eased some of the offensive concerns of this Sox fan`s heart.

And how about Youk and Pedrioa?

Pedroia, Youkilis carry Sox Past Yankees

Pedroia`s Blast Helps Lift Red Sox Over Yankees

Both of them were simply on fire last night, with Youkilis (3-for-4, 2 2B, 3B, 2 RBIs, 3 R) doing something not done since Carlton Fisk hit 3 extra base hits in the opening game of 1973 (with Fisk going 3 for 4 with 6 RBIs). An interesting historical fact about that same 1973 opening game, which was also played against the Yankees:

This was the first game played with a designated hitter, with Red Sox DH Orlando Cepeda going 0-6! (Big Papi`s night doesn’t seem so bad now does it?) The Red Sox also won this game, 15-6

Baseball Almanac: 1973 Red Sox Opener against New York Yankees

And as a final link for today I leave you with a heartfelt tribute to one of my favorite Red Sox players of the modern era.. Nomahhhhhhhhhh

Welcome Back and Goodbye Nomahhh