THE BOSTON RED SOX : Essential Games of Fenway Park...THE REVIEW...THE CONTEST!

Hello on this Friday morning, still dark because I woke up much too early. The contest to win one of the two copies of the 6 DVD set from A&E Home Video that chronicles six of the greatest games ever played at Fenway Park as voted by the fans is on! The discs are in my hot hands, and I had a chance to savor a generous helping of each disc. For the full details of which games are included and a list of the bonus features, simply scroll down two posts and you'll find everything you'd want to know. Ok, here goes...

The six DVDs are housed in a beautiful metallic silver-colored hard plastic box with easy access to the goodies inside. There are no security stickers to peel off at your own risk. Each disc has one game on it, the earliest being from that magic year of 1967, when Yaz had the year of all years. The date of the game? September 30, 1967, when the Sox were in the thick of an improbable pennant race and needed something Yaz-special. Boy, did they get it! The last disc is also the most recent...you'll remember this one well. The time...April 22, 2007. The opponents...the hated Yankees. The Sox hit four consecutive home runs to bury those bums. In between are games from the '75 World Series (YES, the magic game #6...Pudge's night), 1986 (Rocket strikes out 20 batters for the first time), the complete 1999 MLB All Star Game at Fenway, a day when Ted Williams touched our hearts and made me cry, and the 1999 American League Championship Series game #3, when Petey (Pedro Martinez) shut down the Yankees and the Rocket. The video quality varies, as I expected and as each disc will explain. But even the earliest game, which has noticible grain but a very viewable overall picture, earns three stars out of five. Not bad for '67! But once you get to disc two and beyond, the video quality, and these are all standard definition discs with a 4x3 format (not widescreen, even though my DVD player upconverts to a widescreen picture and a 1080i feed), all rate a solid four out of five. The audio sounds as if you're watching the game on live TV...no problemas, en espanol. Next, and last, is this...ease of use of the menu functions and the tremendous bonus features, which are listed in detail in the preceding post. Scroll down after you read this. Ok, where was I? It's too early, I'm going back to bed........WAIT! No, I'm not. The menu functions are simple and effective. You can select a viewing of an entire game or just click on "inning" and go to any point of the contest. I watched the '99 All Star Game festivities with a lump in my throat once again. The individual disc art shows the scoreboard tallies for each game but do not list where the heck the bonus features are, but that's a minor quibble. For your information, they follow the 2007 Yankee game on disc # 6, AND THEY ARE AMAZING. The full list of bonus features is in the post below.

All in all, this set will be an "essential" part of your baseball collection, and is perfect for a cold snowy night when baseball is just a wistful wish in the throes of winter. Picture this - a roaring fireplace and a savage snowstorm, munchable treats and a cold beverage nearby. You reach into your DVD collection and pick out this boxed set. After a couple minutes, you decide on a game, pop it in, and the snow outside changes to a gentle rain with a hint of a breeze as your mind is transported to a warmer time of year, a season of watching your favorite team play the game that you love. And this set has more than 16 hours of that love.

OK, the contest has been open since yesterday (Thursday, May 29, 2008) mid-afternoon. All entries must be here, to MY EMAIL ADDRESS, by 6AM Sunday, June 1, 2008....no comments/guesses here on my blog-all you'd be doing is giving away your answer. I thought that I set up the contest format without anticipating how many beloved readers would enter, but I'm going to let it stand as is and in case of a tie or ties, there WILL be playoff action. The postage will be paid by yours truly. All YOU have to do, again by 6am Sunday, June 1, is send me an email (access it through my profile, or copy and paste this.... peter1210@sbcglobal.net) with a number between zero and thirty six (0-36). Again, in case of ties, and I realize now that I should have added more numbers, it will be playoff time. Believe me, this disc set will provide more than half a day of utter joy. And that's if you watch the whole thing at once, a tall order. This set is a dish best savored one game at a time. So good luck. As of now, I have only three entries, Darren B, Soxy Lady and Jarret B. Keith (Gingerly) has guessed but he left that guess in a comment here at my blog. Keith, please resubmit your guess with an email. You can keep the same number but I deleted your comment so that guess would remain our secret.

Ya know what? Only four guesses (three valid ones) makes me sad. I thought there would be a lot more readers involved in this simple, non-thinking guessing game, but everybody has until 6am Sunday morning to get their guesses in, and with only 37 numbers to pick from, playoffs might ensue. But the important thing is this...A&E Home Video's Red Sox DVD set is a great addition for any members of RSN and RSI, one that will warm your hearts, make you cry and make you stand up and cheer. With pride. For we all have faith in that team from Boston. As always, BE WELL. And please remember to submit all your guesses via email. Only ONE guess per reader. I'll know if anyone submits multiple guesses. How? Believe me, I'll know. Please click on the title of this very post for ALL the details of this wonderous baseball treasure. I will post the winner's names, or the names of those tied who will march into the playoffs, first thing Sunday morning. EMAILS ONLY FOR GUESSES! I will contact via email the winners or those involved in the playoffs. Ties count as ties.

Thanks again for stopping in to my little neck of the internet woods, and I look forward to your guesses. And to view the cover artwork and a detailed description of EVERYTHING, simply click on this post's title. Good luck...I wish I had a set for each and every one of my CONSTANT READERS. Keith, one more reminder to submit your guess via my email address. It was a night off (thank goodness) for our Sox, and here are the four game pitching matchups for the series in Baltimore, which starts tonight...

Josh Beckett (5-4, 4.43 ERA) vs. Daniel Cabrera (5-1, 3.70) tonight
Jon Lester (3-3, 3.55) vs. Garrett Olson (4-1, 4.09) Saturday
Bartolo Colon (2-0, 2.25) vs. Brian Burres (4-4, 4.15) Sunday
Tim Wakefield (3-4, 4.70) vs. Jeremy Guthrie (2-5. 3.64) Monday

Tough matchups all...have a wonderful Friday and good luck. I'm still surprised there have been only three valid entries, but there's still time. At Sunday 6am, I'll publish the winner's names (not their email addys) or the participants of any playoff action that might be needed. Thanks for being here. I don't know what I'd do without you. But now, I need you! So...guess! I look forward to spreading the joy that this DVD set will bring to me.

P.S. I have, as of noon Friday, six entries. Thanks. And they are soxy lady, Darren B, Jarret B, Gary, BFW and the reluctant Keith. That's six---GOOD LUCK. More, PLEASE?!! And a P.P.S....the audio is right channel heavy, but the images? UNFORGETTABLE! And the BONUS FEATURES are just so great.