Sox Take on Team Sponsored by Pizza Shop.

The Sox’ spate of ninth innings wins ended ignominiously last night when Uncle Jed Lowrie forgot to bring a bat to the plate with him.

In case you missed it, the game first ended on a Crisp fly ball to center that was called back due to a BJ Ryan balk. The do-over turned into a two out rally and with a full count Lowrie disappointed all of the inside-out-caps by watching strike three. It wasn’t meant to be.

Your Boston Red Sox will try to avenge last week’s sweep in Tampa against the first place Ray's tonight. The Ray's changed their name this year from the Devil Rays to promote the pizza chain that sponsors them. The Famous Original Tampa Ray's made the move easily from Cental Park softball to MLB baseball.

But, that’s not all. As a bonus you will get Game 6 of the Celtics’ series. The doubters are back in the Celtics’ camp after seeing this series that was supposed to be a bye become competitive. Come out and boo Bibby.

Let’s see. What else is going on? Hmmm.

O Clemens! And you thought your record of 20 strikeouts would stand forever. Little did you know that you would strike out far more times in your retirement. The Daily News has been ripping Roger lately digging up his former lovers like the Yankees dig up Sox jerseys. (BTW, how’s your DL since that little incident, Hanky Panky?)

A third such liaison has come forward today. In case you’re keeping score at home, that’s a 15 year old girl, a mother of 4, and a Detroit stripper. Roger is all over the place just like he was in game 3 of the ’99 ALCS.

Reports have it that friends of Clemens are urging him to drop his defamation suit against Brian McNamee and escape the public eye. But, The Daily News has proven that report false unable to get find anyone claming Fraudger as a friend.

More Thom Foolery

After careful, careful deliberation (the month long variety) I’m a ready to declare a winner of our Red Sox Haiku contest. Our guest judge Hidenori Sekita of NHK chose Michael Liss as his overall favorite. Hide said, “This haiku is very simple and he understands the notion of haiku very well .“

The award for the people’s choice goes to Kristine Zaleskis who received all of the votes. Approbation and gift certificates await you at Professor Thom’s. Congrats.

Winners abound at Thom’s. Aside from the usual trivia night’s etc. we’ll be awarding a prize to the top fund raiser of our AIDS Walk team. Haven't joined up yet? You should.

Here’s a few reasons why from team captain Eden Ligas:

• You care about the plight of people living with HIV/AIDS
• You’ll be at Thom’s for the game anyways, might as well make the walk before
• You love Thom’s Ale
• Happy hour specials after the walk at Thom’s
• Michael Kay and Joe Buck won’t be doing the play-by-play
• You hate Kaczmarczyk!

When the moon hits your eye

Like a big pizza pie

That's Amore

- Harry Warren and Jack Brooks

RIP Buzzie Bavasi 1914-2008

RIP Emil "Buzzie" Bavasi

Sadly, former baseball executive Buzzie Bavasi died yesterday at the age of 93.

I'm happy to have gotten to know Buzzie in the past few months at his home in La Jolla and through e-mails. He was a very generous man with an underappreciated value to baseball. It's a shame that Cooperstown passed him by this year for the hall of fame in favor of Walter O'Malley his sometime boss and often nemesis.

In his last days Buzzie avidly watched three baseball games a day and "four when the Cubs [were] at home." Aside from being passionate about baseball he read on average three books a week.

Buzzie met his wife Evit when he was 13 years old and she was 11. He said, "I saw her skipping across the street with her books under her arm and said, 'Someday I'm going to marry that girl' and I did." They were to celebrate their 68 wedding anniversary this month.

Buzzie told me this joke a few months ago:"One day a baseball player went to heaven. St. Peter asked him at the gates, "What do you want to do?" The baseball player said he wanted to play baseball. So, St. Peter took him to a part of heaven with endless baseball fields and endless baseball players playing the most perfect brand of baseball he had ever seen. In the middle of it was a man orchestrating it all wearing a hat that read W.O'M. The baseball player asked St. Peter, "I don't get it. What is Walter O'Malley doing here? I thought he'd be in the other place. St. Peter answerd, "No, no. That's not Walter O'Malley. That's God. He just thinks he's Walter O'Malley."

Rest in peace Buzzie. You will be missed.

'Eck of a Guy

Professor Thom's was at the center of an affair in Boston last week at Fenway to celebrate the release of "Blessed! Still We Believe 2". We had a great opportunity to whoop it up with former Sox hurler Dennis Eckersley.

The film which features so many Thommies is only available in New England at Shaw's supermarkets. It will be for sale online May 13 and there will be a screening at Thom's May 15.