It's a great day to be a Red Sox fan.

Two reasons for that. First, of course, the Sox clinched their 5th
playoff berth in six years last night. The 5-4 win over Cleveland had
the side benefit of eliminating the Yankees from the
playoffs for the first time in 14 years.

The other great thing that happened is that the Sox announced that
Johnny Pesky's number will be retired prior to Friday night's game
against the Yankees. If you ask me, this is a long time coming. Pesky
has spent most of his nearly seven decades in baseball with the Sox in
just about every role imaginable, from player to manager to broadcaster.

I'm glad the Sox made an exception to their rules to retire number 6.
The rules, Hall of Famer, at least 10 years with the Sox and finished
their career in Boston are too restrictive. There are a number of guys
who will never be elected to Cooperstown but stand a level above the
players in the Red Sox Hall of Fame. Guys like Dwight Evans, Luis Tiant and Jim Rice and others deserve to be up there (hopefully Rice will make it to
Cooperstown next year).

In any event, congratulations to the 2008 Red Sox and to Johnny Pesky.
Hopefully, we'll have a few more celebrations left this season!