Today's Peter Gammons article on ESPN.com includes the following:

"So who puts the bug in candidates' ears about seeming what they are not? John Kerry last week professed to be a big fan of 'Manny Ortez,' then re-emphasized the phoofery by correcting it to 'David Ortez.' No, that was Dave (Baby) Cortez and 'The Happy Organ.' A few years back Kerry went on a Boston station with Eddie Andelman and said 'my favorite Red Sox player of all time is The Walking Man, Eddie Yost,' who never played for the Red Sox. Kerry is going to sweep New England. He's going to get 70 percent of the vote in Massachusetts. He doesn't have to be a Red Sox fan, all he has to do is not be John Ashcroft."

Great way to fire up your base and appeal to the common man, Johnny. Tell people your favorite Boston player is someone who never played for them, and then become a big fan of someone who doesn't exist. I assume he either meant Manny Ramirez or David Ortiz, but with this guy who knows? Who's your favorite pitcher, John? Pedro Garciaparra?

Kerry also said his favorite Bo Sox fan was Eddie Yost. However, he never played for them.

That's okay. I heard a snippet of a benefit for Kerry in NYC last month where Kerry called Billy Crystal "Willie."

Hey, look, the guy may not be the best with names, and while I imagine he enjoys watching ball games, I seriously hope he doesn't have the time to sit around watching three hours of baseball every night the way real fans do. Admittedly, Kerry shouldn't act like he knows what he's talking about if he doesn't. But is this really a serious matter?

Kerry and Theresa were at the Red Sox/Yankee game last night at Fenway Park. So were Katie Couric, Tom Brokaw, Tim Russert, Joe Biden, Ben Affleck, and who knows who else the camera didn't pan. Kerry was busy signing autographs, and he did a short interview, and he'd cheer when the Red Sox did something good, but I'm sure the game was just a photo op and de-stressor for this week's events. I'm sure he wouldn't have gone otherwise, and I'm sure he doesn't follow the Red Sox very closely.

BTW, play of the game: Matsui's grand-slam homerun. Very cool. But not enough. <_<