Way Out West

West Coast games are God's way of reminding you that, although you enjoy the privilege of being able to log on to MLB.com when you want, life in the baseball desert can still be tough at times: the Sox are on the road, so there's no NESN feed to comfort you and the games begin at 4am CET, when only insomniacs and the truly insane are up and about. Even Red Sox fans find the 10pm ET starts tough, so you can't even comfort yourself with the thought that all of Red Sox Nation is watching the game with you.

It is indeed a lonely time, especially when you're watching the Angels steadily chip away at a four-run lead that looks more precarious with every passing inning. And you realise that you haven't seen the Angels at all this season and have therefore forgotten about their pesky hit'n'run, bunt-'em-over, steal-a-base baseball. And you'd forgotten about this guy, who you don't want to see up at the plate in any situation - no outs, two outs, bases empty, bases loaded - especially since your starting pitching is having trouble finding the strike zone.

So you grit your teeth, hang in there and hope that the Sox do likewise. And, lo and behold, somewhere around 7:20am, when it's just about time to get the coffee on and start thinking about getting ready for work, they do just that.

It's not exactly Game 7 of the World Series, but after the week the Sox have just had, it's enough to put a slight spring in your step and a little smile on your face. One small step for a team, one giant leap for Red Sox Nation (East).