Kate Troy wrote:

> Kerry did great tonight.  He could have been a touch warmer, but he
> did great, all things considered.

> Yes, for all of you with no Massachusetts background, the Red Sox have
> indeed once again secured a playoff birth.  Haven't I been through
> enough?  And Pedro doesn't seem like he's up to it, either.


Putting together your Kerry/Bush and baseball/Pedro portions of
your post, here is something from _LAST_ year that shows a warmer
Kerry and the role of Red Sox in forming the modern Yankee character
(no, not NY Yankees ball players but real New England Yankees):


   Wednesday, November 12, 2003

   A  baseball metaphor that scores! Early in the CNN "Rock the Vote"
   Democratic debate a week ago, the following interchange took place--

     QUESTION: Senator Kerry?

     KERRY: Yes, sir.

     QUESTION: You're the manager of the Boston Red Sox.

     (LAUGHTER)

     KERRY: Yes.

     QUESTION: It's game seven.

     (UNKNOWN): That's one way to get Kerry out of the race.

     (LAUGHTER)

     QUESTION:  It's game seven of the ALCS versus the New York Yankees.
     Your starting pitcher appears to be tiring.

     (LAUGHTER)

     You  know  it's best for the team to replace him, but the star asks
     to  stay in. Do you make an executive decision and take him out? Or
     do you listen to your star and let him, the person who you hired in
     that role, and let him finish that job?

     (APPLAUSE)

     KERRY: That's a great question.

     (APPLAUSE)

     KERRY:  Wilmington, thank you very much for the question. I thought
     it  was  tough  running  for president of the United States. Now he
     wants to make me manager of the Red Sox.

     (LAUGHTER)

     KERRY:  Let  me  tell you something. You know why I will be a great
     president  of the United States? Because I've been a long suffering
     Red Sox fan. I know adversity.

     (APPLAUSE)

     Like most of you here, I was throwing things at the television set,
     screaming  at  Grady  Little, 'Get him out of there. Get him out of
     there.'

     And  regrettably  he  didn't. Now we have another round. But that's
     our  role in life. You have to understand. If you come from Boston,
     you  come  from  Massachusetts,  you love the Red Sox, your role in
     life is to put up with it.

     And  I'll  tell you what. Every single one of us ought to celebrate
     the Marlins beating the Yankees.

     (APPLAUSE)

     And  the  reason  it's extra special is that's the first legitimate
     victory out of Florida since 2000.