Dobrindts dot com...again

I have been silent on this site because I decided to post all of my baseball comments on my anti Red Sox site (www.redsoxstink.com). But…

5 months, 3 weeks and 5 days is how long the Sox were in first place in the AL East. With two games left in the season, the Yankees won at Fenway and because of the Wild Card and a strange set of circumstances, clinched their 8th consecutive AL East title, making a mockery of all Red Sox fans, and media, who blasted the Yankees all year. In truth it would have been better if the Yanks took the Wild Card because they have a better chance at beating the White Sox than the Angels, but that is besides the point. The important thing is that the Yankees won when it counted, not the other 98% of the time.

That is all I am going to say on the subject in this blog. For more Red Sox bashing, and trust me, if the Yanks win in the first round and the Sox do not, there will be more bashing than this town has ever seen come out of me, read my other site. No one, including that moron Schilling, will be spared. I’ll probably even go after Kelly Barons, the 15 minutes of fame Red Sox ball attendant.

Good luck to the Red Sox as they start a 5 game series in Chicago tomorrow night, may you not only lose but look bad while doing it.

Go Yanks.

Posted by David at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I ran another road race yesterday. Two weeks ago I ran the Susan Komen 5K breast cancer “race for the cure� road race. It is a huge event in Boston every year with (I think) around 5 thousand runners and walkers. I ended up running it in a time that amounted to an 8 minute 11 second mile. I thought I actually ran faster and I am not sure if the computer chip takes into account the fact that it took me a couple of minutes to get past the starting line. Patti ended up walking it and pushed the kids in the stroller. It was a huge event and for a cause that is near to my heart right now.

This past Sunday I ran a 10K race called the Marine Corp Honor Run. This one was really close to my house and the course was in a really pretty wooded area. Patti pushed the kids in the a 5K shorter version. I ran 10K, about 6.4 miles, in around 52 minutes which is an 8 minute 22 second mile. Not bad considering the last 2 miles was up hill.

Couple of things.

- I should have run these things when I was 21 and in the best shape of my life. While I am up to about 8 miles for my normal jog, it is never a piece of cake. I remember when I played sports in high school and carried lacrosse to college, I could run forever and barely breath heavy.

- Races like these are a blast and the best part, other than the charity that the money goes to, is the free stuff at the end. If they provided free beer I would do two a weekend.

- The Komen race was kind of sad because of the topic. Breast cancer is no joke and while it celebrates the survivors just as much as the victims, it’s heartbreaking still the same.

- I thought the Marine Corp race would be a blast and, while it was fun, I forgot to realize that a large portion of the runners would be military men in their late teens or early twenties in the best shape that almost anyone could every been in. Add to that ex-military people and law enforcement runners who are generally fit, and I went from being fairly fast to being behind the pack. The race the week before I came in around the top 25%. This race I think I was more like 50%. And while the mood was somber at the Komen race, it was the exact opposite at the Marine Corp race. A lot of testosterone. And a lot of crew cuts.

- My father was in the Marine Corp in the 50s and other than his three charming and talented kids, and their offspring, I think being a Marine is the thing he is most proud of. I thought of that while running the Marine Corp Honor run. No amount of words can express the kind of respect that I have for all military people. While soldiers usually get something back like a skill or trade, they give more than they get back. I come from a long line of proud military folks (I even have a WW2 Congressional Metal of Honor winner in my extended family) and the single greatest regret I have in life (so far) is not working harder to get into a military academy. Like the military or not, it’s something to be proud of.

Even though I have been running for years, this is the first year that I am really focusing on it and getting serious about it. This is in large part because of Uncle Tim, and his multiple marathons. I think in a way it has changed his life and I am not talking about losing some weight. My goal for the rest of this year is to get to a half marathon, with a full marathon within the next 12 months. We’ll see how it goes after child number 3 is born in February.

Posted by David at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Raphael Palmeiro was suspended yesterday for violating the league's substance abuse policy. Apparently he was drug tested and they found performance enhancing drugs in his system. Steroids.

Raphael Palmeiro is a strange kind of player. He has Hall of Fame numbers but never seemed to have had a call of fame career. He was always behind the “elite� pack of players and never got the recognition like the other big bats. Part of that is because he never played on great teams so it was implied he didn’t have a big enough impact, and he was never voted an MVP as far as I know. He never played in a World Series, never led the league in runs batter in, home runs or average, and has only been in 4 All Star games. He quietly put up some of the greatest career numbers of any player of my generation but just never was on anyone’s mind share. Do you think people paid to go to the game just to see him? But he just reached a milestone that only 3 other MLB players in history have reached. Pretty amazing.

Oh, there is one other thing. Raphael Palmeiro is a fraud and a cheat and he should be ashamed of himself. He stood up in front of Congress and pointed fingers and lied under oath. He traded jabs with Jose Canseco over comments in Canseco’s book. He evangelized about the use of steroids and joined round table discussion on the use of steroids. All the while he (allegedly) was taking steroids. What a freakin fraud and a joke.

One more thing. I hate those Viagra commercials. He should be kept out of the Hall of Fame just for making those uncomfortable cheesy commercials. Viagra. Ha, if that isn’t a testament of how little market appeal he has, I don’t know what is. Let’s see who else was a well know spokesman…that’s right, Bob Dole. Some crackety old geezer and Raphael Palmeiro. Very impressive.

Posted by David at 04:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

- Curt Schilling in the bullpen is a bad idea. I might be wrong here, I am certainly not the expert, but a guy like that is a starter through and through. He needs to pitch, have 4 or so days off, then pitch again. Having him warm up, maybe go in, not go in, three days out of 4, throw 30 pitches after a brief warm-up. Not sure that is what he needs to rehab and get back into the rotation. But what do I care, let the train wreck continue.

- Keith Foulke. Oh Keith, you make me so happy. I swear this guy is exactly what I needed considering how bad the Yankees have been doing. He is awful. I know he had 4 saves in the World Series last year, but it’s about what can you do for me now. I pray for a close game just so they have to use him. And trust me, Francona is the type to use him day after day while the ship’s propellers disappear under the surface. And that Johnny from Burger King comment could not have come at a better time. For the most part Red Sox Nation has had nothing to complain about this year. And if you know this place, complaining is part of their inner workings, right there with the liver that is soiled from alcohol, the heart that is black with hatred of the Yankees, and the lungs that are filled with smoke from playing Keno at Virgies and drinking 2 dollar buds. So when Keith mouthed off the fans and media smelled blood. I know what he was trying to do. It’s when I refer to the average Sox fan as a drunk third grade education level toll booth collector from Revere. I know that most Sox fans are fairly educated, nice, often drunk that part is true, but overall good…well…okay… people. So Foulke tried to come up with a word for your common Red Sox fan and knowing that working at Burger King was probably a step up for most, chose that. Bad decision. Like a pack of wild animals that spotted a wounded antelope, they attacked. Now he is “hurt� and has to go on the DL. Whatever, he was terrible and they are back to closer by committee. That’s another thing. It’s not “bullpen� by committee, which all bullpens are. It’s “closer� by committee.

- The Yankees are hitting their stride. I know we are not out of the woods yet, but if I were other AL East teams, I would be scared. Things might change, again, I am not the expert, but there is too much talent there to skid for the entire 6 month season.

- Baltimore is finally showing their true colors. Did anyone really think they would stick around with their pitching and Sammy Sosa stinking up the place. They will soon move to third place, where they belong.

- ESPN had a great piece on Jason Giambi the other day. As we all know he did steroids. But steroids do not help with seeing the ball and swinging at terrible pitches, like Giambi was doing. Now that he has had his fair share of swings, he is starting to connect. And under all those steroid built muscles, there is some raw power that we are starting to see. He is still a joke at what the Yanks paid him, but finally we have some power back from him.

- Two weeks ago when the news said Manny Ramirez hit his 19th grand slam I thought it was a mistake. Then this past week when he hit his 20th, that is TWENTY, I was shocked. Underneath that strange and goofy behavior is one of the best hitters of my generation. He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame just on how many grand slams he hit. I can’t wait to see him in a Yankee uniform.

- George Steinbrenner, Brian Cashman, please end the pain and get rid of Tony Womack. Take him out behind the tool shed and end the misery. Enough already. Sure, he steals a lot of bases, but what he is lacks in power he makes up for in a low batting average. Get rid of him. The only redeeming quality in Tony is that my wife went to college with him. I still remember after the Diamondbacks won the 2001 World Series, on national television right before an interview he was hugging a woman and the announcers asked if that was his mother and Tony said “No, that’s my wife.� I still laugh every time I think about that.

- Clement and Timlin deserved to be in the all star game. Especially Timlin. Shame on Francona for using his right as the AL manager to get them in somehow.

- I know it’s too early to tell, but seeing Randy Johnson pitch lights-out on short rest made me cry. Please please please if one wish can come true, make him the dominant pitcher we bought last winter. I say “we� like I have anything to do with the Yankees, other than run a site dedicated to hating the Red Sox.

- For some reason I like reading Terry Francona’s comments in the paper but hate listening to him during an interview. He says very direct and honest things but he comes across as such a goober.

- Oh Johnny Damon, I hate you so. The hair bugs me, the beard bugs me, the self imposed nicknames bug me. Now you drive the hatred spike even deeper by mouthing off about your manager. What’s up Damon? So you don’t think Schilling should be a closer. Neither do I. The difference is that you are a stud center fielder on one of the most popular baseball teams in the world. I come in a far second for most admired parent in my own house. SHUT IT!!

- Why didn’t a supposed locker room fist fight between Jeter and Arod get more air time? This is the type of thing that should have been splashed on every sports news desk in the country. I think I heard about it from two cab drivers making small talk while waiting at Laguardia. And trust me, I follow sports more closely than my own child’s development.

- Losing a close game after 6 innings because of a rain delay sucks. Glad to see it happened to fatboy Wells though. But still, that sucks. If they played innings 7, 8 and 9, something tells me they would have come back and won. It was only 2 runs they were down. Hey Sox fans, keep thinking about that when you don’t make the playoffs by 1 game.

- Is there a little scarf-gate going on in the Sox locker room? Why wasn’t I told about this when it happened? I had to find out from the washer women at the hair salon. I guess Schonda Schilling and Johnny Damon’s sweet ticket don’t like each other. Something about last fall Mrs. Schilling made scarves for the players significant others, in Veritek’s case his name is Ben, to wear during the playoffs. After a thumping by the Yankees in game 3 Mrs. Damon came in without her scarf on. Shonda Schilling supposedly said that if she had it on maybe little Johnny would not have been 0 for 16 at which point Mrs. Damon opened up a can of old fashioned vanilla flavored whip-ass and went after the old lady. They went fist-a-cuffs and never liked each other since. Just a rumor, but my sources say it’s true. Oh sweet glory of Heaven I would love to get a tape of that little party. Not enough money in the world could keep me from watching it.

- Why doesn’t Mike Adams get more airtime? He is one of the most entertaining guys on the radio and he gets mop up duty on WEEI. Did he piss off someone at some point? His story about his pet monkey was the funniest thing I have heard on WEEI since I moved here.

Posted by David at 05:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was talking to a friend today about NASCAR, the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing, or as I call it, Asscar. I am not a fan, myself, but I know a lot of rednecks are. So I guess there is a debate right now which redneck drunk Podunk town to have Nascar’s hall of fame in. Atlanta will be a bigger draw and get more people, I guess, but more teams call Charlotte home. Atlanta races don’t require a restrictor plate so they are the fastest races on the circuit so some say it is the best place to sit on metal bleachers drinking beer and praying for a 25 car pile up. How do I know Atlanta doesn’t require restrictor plates you ask? Because Brian Williams, the NBC Nightly News pretty boy is a big Nascar fan and was on the radio a few weeks back talking about it. Riveting, I know.

Anyway, I find Nascar fascinating. I like fast cars as much as the next guy and my friend Bill says it is a great experience. He said you can buy radios and listen to the cars talk to their support crews. That would be kind of cool. I was on an American flight a couple of years ago and one of the radio channels was air traffic control and the pilots. I listened for like an hour and I think it would be the same with the cars.

NASCAR is actually a huge sport in this country. Here in the northeast it is not big, but elsewhere it is huge. Races get like 100,000 people to sit there in the blazing sun getting drunk and shouting to each other, asking if the Sharpie 500 is a better race than the Aarons 499.

Nascar is the number 2 rated sport on television if you can believe that. There are 75 million fans nationwide. It has a 10 month season which is the longest out of any pro sport. Teams don’t have a hometown so loyalty lies with the driver. And as we all know, it’s a giant marketing sport.

I tried watching it on TV a couple of times and got bored. It was fun looking at the fans with their RVs but that only lasted a few minutes. I have been told that being at an actual race is kick-a** so I want to try it, especially with the radio thingy.

So I guess I’ll give the races a shot one day. Not high on my list of things to do, but definitely on there. If so many fans are into it, and not all of them are drunk rednecks, then it can’t be too bad. Still, I can’t help but wonder. If I put bleachers on the side of interstate 95, I bet I could get Nascar fans to pay 50 bucks to sit there, drink beer and watch cars go by

Posted by David at 05:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Before Patti and I had children we used to run about 6 or 8 road races a year. They were either for charity or just for fun. We usually ran 5K races and occasionally did a 10K one with no real hope of coming anywhere near the front of the pack. I guess we could have been competitive if 1) we didn’t go out and drink so much, 2) trained like an Olympian or 3) cared. For us it was a good way to build our cheap T-shirt collection and get free bananas and key chains. But with having two kids we kind of dropped out of the habit.

This past year we made a commitment to run at least 6 races this year. We have some that we are doing for personal reasons (charity) and others that we are doing in the town we live just for fun. Today was race number 1, town of Milton fun race.

We had been training, sort of, so we had no real apprehension with the 5K race. Patti’s mother drove up to watch the kids while Patti and I did the race. We packed up in the car and went to Cunningham Park for this very popular annual race. There were two starting lines, one for the 5K and one for the 10K. Usually the races we run have an equal amount of 5K and 10K participants, but as we kept running into friends and neighbors, we realized that most of the people were running the 10K. The thought briefly crossed our minds to get in line with the 10K nuts, but we have been training mostly on a treadmill and had no idea if a little over 6 miles of running would leave us in stable condition.

So with 5K of course ahead of us, we started off on the race. Since I have a longer stride, but am certainly not in better shape, I usually run faster than Patti. I took off and hit the first mile marker in a little under 8 minutes. I kept the same pace and at the second mile marker was under 16 minutes. The great thing about races like this are that people in the community come out and sit along the course cheering runners on, handing out water, clapping and supporting the event. It’s a blast. For a small, very small, time I feel like a true competitor. I know it’s silly but when police officers stop traffic to let me run a race, it’s kind of a rush. Patti was only a short space behind me and finished the first mile marker at 9:25.

The course was through...

The course was through tree lined streets and had some mild hills. Nothing crazy. At 24:45 I crossed the finish line to a crowd of cheering fans. For Milton, this race is a big event and the finish area was filled with vendors giving out free stuff, families, little kids and a general festive environment. I hooked up with Patti’s mom, the kids, our neighbor who is a Fire Department volunteer and had one of the FD trucks, and other people I know. I waited for Patti to finish, who crossed at a little over 30 minutes, and then we all hung out, eating free yogurt and vitamin water, giving the kids balloons and ice cream and doing what only a few years ago I would have made fun of.

After the 10K runners started coming in, the event coordinator started announcing winners. With events like this they usually have awards for the top three finishers in major categories, like over 65 men, 20-29 women, etc. Since I have as much chance of placing as being elected President, I usually don’t pay attention. But as I was standing in a crowd, playing with the kids, talking to my neighbor, I heard the following…

“In the 30-39 year old category, finishing third among the men…David Dobrindt.�

My head abruptly turned toward the general area of the award platform like they just said Mitt Romney arrived naked on horseback. I must not have heard them right. They announced me. I turned to Patti who was standing with a bunch of other people about 50 feet away and they were all looking at me like it must be a joke. Surely I paid someone to make the announcement. I had placed third. At least in my category. Forget for a moment that there were probably only 3 people total in my category, I placed third.

So after a few seconds of total shock, followed by some good natured ribbing, I went up to get my award. I walked up to the table and told them they called my name. They took a metal on a ribbon and placed it over my head. It was hysterical. I almost expected them to put a laurel wreath on my head, kiss both cheeks and salute my flag.

I asked how many people were in my category and they didn’t know. When I was running I noticed a lot of teenaged girls, old men, a lot of women and pretty much no other 30-something year old men. Well, there were at least 2 others and they finished before me.

I immediately took the ribbon off and made my way back to my group. I got a very sincere hug and congrats from Patti, a few jokes from my neighbor and a bunch of “atta-boy�s from my friends. Later when we were home I put the ribbon on and told Patti I was going to join the circuit to try to make some money running races. She said that I might want to start running the kids races so that I would at least place first.

I know if I ran the 10K race I would have been in the bottom 3. But for the first time since I started running these races, I had something other than a tight XL t-shirt and meaningless coupons from local merchants to show for it.

Posted by David at 04:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hey, Curt Schilling, shut your big fat mouth. Enough of your crap. I used to like you, especially after you came out and supported Bush, but now you are getting on my nerves. First, stop offering your opinion on everything. Second, don’t call Lou Piniella an “idiot�. You go on radio and TV shows and start mouthing off like some drunk uneducated sports fan in a Somerville bar who thinks they know something about everything. Uh oh, I just described myself. But you get on your soap box and start bashing a manager who, by the way, also was a pretty good player. You were out of line in calling him an idiot and attacking his integrity and you know it. Actually, maybe not, considering you think everyone else on this planet is stupid and knows less than you. I am sick of hearing your horse, condescending voice yap about this and that. You are a great pitcher but no one appointed you the voice and supreme opinion of EVERYTHING. Shut IT.

And that’s another thing. If I see your wife on TV one more time I am going to glue my eyes shut. She is on more than most Red Sox players. She is attractive for an older lady and I appreciate the charity work, but tell her to give it a rest. The stupid bobble ankle toy is ridiculous. It looks dumb. If she wants to raise money for charity, tell her to sell one of the Ford F150s you got doing your low budget commercials, which, by the way, SUCK.

One other thing. The Red Sox throw at players all the time. Opening series they hit 5, FIVE, Yankee players. Pedro, a guy who said was your buddy last year, threw at Matsui’s head last year because he was hitting him well. The year before Pedro threw at Garcia in the playoffs, threw at his head, because he was getting hit like a piñata. Your team plunks opposing players all the time, starts fights, then complains when it is done to them. Give me a freakin’ break. It’s a case of the bully getting bullied. If I stand in front of my house and throw rocks at people who walk by, I sure in hell would not start crying when someone decides to throw rocks back. Your team, Curt, is a bunch of whining cry babies because someone, an old school manager that is an “idiot�, decided to give you some of your own medicine. I just wished Torre drank Heineken for breakfast like Piniella so maybe the Yanks would start giving you just a little of the medicine you so readily dispense to other teams.

Posted by David at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Red Sox Nation had another shining moment last night at Fenway. Gary Sheffield went for a ball in the right field corner and a front row drunken idiot took a swipe at Sheffield’s face. Sheffield gave the guy a quick push and threw the ball back and immediately went at the guy but didn’t throw another punch. A park security guard jumped in between them and it was diffused.

First, let’s take a step back when two Red Sox managers got thrown out of the game. First it was one of Terry’s coaches, Ron Jackson, and then Terry himself. Getting throw out is fine, and arguing with the umpire is fine, but that nonsense from Jackson, with physically being restrained and carrying on like a steroid induced rage, is uncalled for. I like a good fight as much as the next guy, but only when I am expecting it. When I watch a baseball game or go to a game, I don’t want to see that crap. One day soon I am going to start taking my kids to games and the last thing I want them to watch is highly skilled and highly paid adults acting like 3 year olds. I don’t want my kids to see someone doing crack or selling drugs. I know they will understand those things one day, but as little kids there are some things that they don’t need to know about. And when I take them to watch the excitement of a major league baseball game, I don’t want them to see people who are viewed as authority figures having to be restrained and yelling EFF THIS and EFF THAT. I want them to see great baseball.

And then we had Chris House, a fan from Boston, take a swipe at Gary Sheffield. Once again the fans at Fenway, and its not all fans, sometimes it’s actual employees, cross the line and physically attack a Yankee player. I saw the incident live last night and about 30 times this morning on every single channel. While it wasn’t an Ultimate Fighting Challenge tryout, it was clearly a shot at the player. The guy was drunk (of course), stupid (he is a Red Sox fan) and tried to get a cheap shot in (again, a Red Sox fan). He didn’t try to knock out Sheffield but what he did was wrong. Gary, in turn, shouldn’t have went at the guy right away either. It was not as the CNN idiot-anchor said a “round house punch�, but it was uncalled for too. But it was a knee-jerk reaction and I probably would have done the same. This morning I saw CNN, Headline News, Fox News, NESN and the Today Show, as well as every local TV news program, describe the incident. As you can image it went from the guy did nothing wrong and Sheffield should be arrested (local programming) to Sheffield should be commended for showing restraint, which is crazy because taking a shot at the guy is not my definition of restraint.

This was an ugly incident but two things contributed. The first is the layout of Fenway. The fans are on top of the players and that is part of the charm. I love going to Fenway because, even with the terrible and uncomfortable seats, it’s a great place to see a game. The other thing is that typical Red Sox fans have no idea how to act when they are outside the confines of the group home most of them live in. When you take a third grade education level, throw in a typical day of drinking beer for breakfast, add the mob mentality of getting of the green line and walking toward Fenway, and combine that with the classless way of handling success, and lets be honest, Red Sox fans are not used to being considered winners, throw all these things together and you’ll get what happened last night. Thanks God it didn’t turn into a Ron Artist (another SJU guy, thank you) thing or what happened last year with the MLB player tossing a chair into the stands, but it was still embarrassing.

Doug Flutie. That's another thing. I like Doug Flutie as much as the next guy, but the guy is a stud around Boston, has a ton of money, is good looking, is a great athlete, and I have to watch him with his unbelievable seats catch fly ball after fly ball. Ugh. I think they should take every foul ball that get hit and instead of handing them to those rich kids who get to sit in the 250 dollar seats, have someone walk up to the cheap seats (ha, cheap, at fenway, I meant to say the less-ridiculously priced seats) and give them to the kids whose parents are Herald delivery people or Post Office employees or HVAC union members. Kids whose parents take them to one or two games a year because it’s a huge amount of money and they can barely afford the 25 dollar obstructed view seats. Give those kids the foull balls instead of the little spoiled brat of a Fleet executive who has a better seat than I’ll ever see.

Thank you, rant over.

Posted by David at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The other day I was reading Paul?s blog and I forgot in what context it was mentioned, but he commented on the term ?monkey slave?. My first thought was that it would be a great school nickname, like the Moore Park High School Monkey Slaves. If I started my own high school, like Dobrindt Meadow High School, I would call our mascot, or whatever you call the nickname thing, the Monkey Slaves, not the bulldogs, wildcats or screaming eagles. Then I got to thinking about my own high school, Hicksville High School in Hicksville, NY, population 50,000. I was pretty active in high school with sports (football, lacrosse), student government (believe it or not, I was junior and senior class president) and social activities, so I used our mascot theme often. We were the Comets. The Hicksville High School Comets. Which, in hindsight, kind of stinks. The junior high is the Meteors. While in high school, I never really gave much though to it, but with the Monkey Slave thing I started to realize how odd of a name it is. I am kind of curious as to

1. How many high schools in the country use ?Comets?, and what is the most popular name?
2. Why did Hicksville use the ?Comets?. Why not the tigers, panthers, titans, farmers, islanders, etc. Why a chunk of frozen gasses, ice, and rocky debris that orbits the sun.

My first thought was that Haley?s comet was around when the school was formed, or some other comet. Or that Comet was popular when the school was formed. I?m not sure.

Who knows? Maybe I will never know. It?s not like there is some magical education tool that allows me to enter a word, term or phrase and I can access over 2 billion locations that might provide an explanation. Nothing like that around Boston that I know of. Too bad, it will continue to bug me.

Posted by David at 03:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It started last night. The Yankee-Red Sox ebb and flow of this year started with a Red Sox disaster and a Yankee win. Overall, the game is .006 percent of the season. It?s like CSPAN2 at 3AM, not entirely meaningless but pretty close. It?s one of hopefully 100 or so wins for the Yankees and one of hopefully 80 or so losses for the Red Sox. While the Red Sox looked pretty awful, I doubt Damon, Edgar or Manny will go oh-fer the rest of the season. The one thing that did look mid-season was Damon?s fielding. He looks like a 12 year old girl. Jeesh, he looks awful. But Wells will get into stride even though he has no idea what it?s going to be like in Boston if he doesn?t become the stud they need him to be.

The Yanks did look good but it?s one game, in 40 degree early April, with Randy Johnson, a really funny name, on the mound. The players were hitting but was that because they were in stride or because Wells was off. As a Yankee fan, I like to believe it is an indication of how they are going to approach the year. But who knows, it?s only one game.

The one thing that is true to Red Sox Nation is WEEI, the local radio station. On a side note, I am back to listening to WEEI every time the radio is on for the first time since October. During the ?off season?, I listen to Imus in the morning and Jay Severin in the afternoon. Mainly because Hockey, Basketball ? and to a certain extend Football ? talk bores me. But I can listen to people go back and forth about baseball all day long.

So getting back to my story, I was listening to EEI off and on Sunday morning and afternoon. Just about everyone, callers and hosts, were bashing the Yankees. Like true Red Sox supporters, they were less focused on the Sox and more focused on the Yankees. So they were talking about how the Sox lineup was better and how the Yankees pitching staff was really just a shell of what people thought it was. ?Blah blah blah they SUCK.?

Well, this morning things are different. Red Sox Nation is pretty ticked. For some reason in third grade, the last year most of them attended structured school, they didn?t teach the theory that one performance is not necessarily indicative of ALL performances. After all, the Sox lost last year?s season opener to Baltimore and went on to win the World Series. But hey, what do I know, I?m just a Yankee fan.

So while I know last night didn?t mean much, it felt good to see the Yanks win.

Posted by David at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The other thing I want to touch on is the steroid use issue in baseball. I know it?s a big deal ? young fans see their sports heroes accused of taking drugs, historical baseball greats unfairly have their records taken away, young men are ruining their lives taking drugs, players not on the juice do not have a chance against the players who are ? but for some reason I could care less. I am tired of it already. It came as no shock to me that players were using steroids. I had Brady Anderson on my fantasy team the year after he hit 50 home runs and the rumors started back then. The steroid issue is old news, and even when it was new news, it was boring. I just do not care.

MLB is not going to do anything about it. They put a penalty for the first offense at a 10 game suspension (first time offense in the Olympics is a 2 year ban) which is a joke to these guys. They argue that you cannot do another test for months because it stays in your system but they use masking agents to block out the detection when they know when they are going to get tested. They can hide behind the union. Hey, it?s unfair and not right, but I like to see baseballs hit farther, pitchers throw faster, football players hit harder, running backs run faster and quarterbacks throw longer. I am part of the problem because I like to watch great athletes and I pay to go to games and I buy merchandise which pays for the owners to bid on players who hit the ball father, throw the ball faster and are better athletes than the next guy.

If fans really cared that much, they would stop buying jerseys and hats and shelling out a week?s salary for a night at a game. But I am sick of hearing about it already because there is nothing new to report. Players are accused of doing steroids, players deny using steroids, some players admit using steroids and offer a disingenuous apology (if they apologize at all), major league baseball and the player?s union does nothing, fans continue to watch games.

Jose Canseco and Jason Giambi could have been good guys if they came out and said they did steroids and it ruined their lives, sincerely apologized to the fans and their teammates, and begged kids not to follow the same path. But Jose goes on 60 minutes and every radio station saying the same meaningless thing over and over, all while his book hits the best seller list. I am as concerned about the steroid issue as I am about weather in Europe ? I might notice it but don?t really care.

Posted by David at 05:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The NHL was officially cancelled Wednesday. I have not been following the details too closely, mainly because I don?t really watch the NHL, at least not until the playoffs, but from what I can tell there is no solution in site. The sticking point, again, I am not an expert, is the salary cap. The players, rightfully so, want 49 mil and the owners want 42.5 mil. I guess almost all of the teams are losing money and there is no way for them to make money. In fact, the entire league lost a huge amount, over a billion dollars, over the last 10 years. Interest in pro hockey is at an all time low, a problem on a different scale because the NHL should have capitalized on Wayne Gretzky like the NBA did with Michael Jordan. Other than my buddy Jay and about 6 other people, no one is really into pro hockey. For a number of reasons, it has steadily been losing viewers. So the owners are losing money and the players are not willing to compromise on the salary. I am sure there is more to it than that, but for me personally the only impact it has on my life is that I don?t have to click through whatever channel is showing a pro hockey game on my channel surfing safari.

Posted by David at 08:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Apparently Red Sox outfielder Trot Nixon called Alex Rodriguez a clown. He also said the following

?But when people ask me about the Yankees, I tell them about [Derek] Jeter and Bernie Williams and [Jorge] Posada. I don't tell them about Rodriguez ... He can't stand up to Jeter in my book, or Bernie Williams or Posada."

Nixon than said that while Rodriguez is an ok player, he is not the Yankee type.

Nixon said he respects the Yankees' Jason Giambi, who is the focus of a controversy surrounding steroid use in baseball.

"I don't feel sorry for Giambi but I do have a great amount of respect for him, for what he's done in this game, the kind of person he is," Nixon said. "He's a superstar and he doesn't act like it.

"A lot of people have lost respect for people like Giambi. I can't judge him for what he did," Nixon added. "I don't even know him that well, but I enjoy talking to him over at first base.

Hey, Trot Nixon, keep your fat mouth shut. No one, especially the Yankees, gives a CRAP what you say. Oh, excuse me. You have praise for Jeter, Williams and Posada. Let me tell you something, you mean as much to them as CSPAN-2 does to me. NOTHING. You don't hold a jock strap compared to them. Your dirt-dirt, slob, tobacco-spitting, unshaven-goat-smelling, surly crap might go over well in Boston where you're a shining light compared to your teammates, but you would be in line behind the bat boy and in front of the hot dog salesman for playing time with the Yanks.

After the Yankees won any of their 4 World Series from 96-2000, or after their two lost bids in 2001 and 2003, did you hear them attacking any Red Sox players. No. It's called winning with class, look it up in your MLB Player's Union assimilation guide.

There is such a thing as winning with class and something tells me the Red Sox don't plan on doing it.

Posted by David at 01:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I called the Red Sox today to get on a wait list for Season Tickets. They have regular season tickets plus a 10 game plan. I got on for both. 50 dollar fee to get on the list which kind of sucked. Now it?s a waiting game. Waiting for someone to drop their season tickets when every game is sold out and 20 dollar bleacher seats go for 50 bucks. Yeah, I know, it?ll be a long wait.

Posted by David at 02:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hi there. I can?t believe how long it has been since I wrote anything about the Red Sox. I am not shaking off the cobwebs of sleep and making my bed, just sort of peaking my head out a little since pitchers and catchers report on Tuesday. My New York sports team affection (affliction) has taken a hit with two New England Super Bowls acting as book ends to a Boston World Series title. I kind of feel like Rocky in Rocky 1, beat up but ready for more.

So the big thing this past week is ?roids. The funny thing is that Boston sports and media have been pretty quiet since none of their players are being mentioned. Now that Roger Clemens has been named, he is suddenly that ?New York Yankee? player, not someone who played for Boston most of his career. The wonderful, hardworking, clean, honest, church going players of the Red Sox have not done those nasty steroids and never will because Boston is the greatest EFFING PLACE ON EARTH. Their sanctimonious crap about being all that is good while New York and everything else represents the prince of darkness himself makes me want to throw up in my mouth. But hey, what do you expect from a town that just won two Super Bowls and their first World Series since World War 1. This place ? writers, reporters, athletes, owners, fans ? are walking around like they just took home the prettiest girl at the dance. Good for them. I hope she?s high maintenance and is a terrible cook. Have fun Boston, enjoy where you are right now, you know how things work. It can turn bad quickly.

Talk to everyone in a couple of months.

Posted by David at 09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Coupe of quick comments on the Super Bowl.

- From the chatter by local radio show hosts and a lot of national press people, Jacksonville was up there with the Sudan at the height of civil war and Europe during the dark ages as a fun place to be. Sure, the city was probably overwhelmed with such a huge event and I would bet the NFL will never do that again, but lighten up. I kind of feel like they are picking on Ray Ramona for not winning an Oscar for Mooseport. What did they expect? 15 thousand hotel rooms for over 100K visitors? Do the math.

- I was quick to make fun of Paul McCartney as the half time show. My first reaction was ?Is that the best they can do?? Why not get Wayne Newton, I think he is older. But I have to admit I found myself watching it and humming along. Safe and I bet the coveted 52-75 year old age group the advertisers try to target were glued in, if they stayed up that late.

- The Patriots won because they did not play as terrible as the Eagles. The Patriots did not look great, but the Eagles looked terrible. Maybe it was because of what Belichick threw at them, but something tells me it was also because they played terrible. If McNabb didn?t throw like I do in my backyard playing catch with my 3 year old, and Eagles coach Reid didn?t treat the last 6 minutes like he was WINNING the game, it might have had another outcome. But like true great teams do, the Pats did just enough to win.

- The commercials were kind of disappointing. I liked the AmeriQuest commercials, they were original and funny. The Budweiser commercial with the troops walking through the airport brought a tear to my eye, but not much else did it. GoDaddy.com was awful, and this coming from someone who flips through my wife?s copy of Fitness to look at the cute girls. Burt Reynolds should be kicked out of the SAG for that dumb commercial, and FedEx, or whatever company created that commercial, should be fined by the FCC for paying for it. And there should be a rule that no commercials that have previously aired, like the ?Easy? button one, can air during the Super Bowl. Good or bad, they should all be original.

- When Michael Douglas was doing that patriotic thing before the game, he said something about honoring those who have given all of us our freedom, and they immediately panned to Tom Brady. I thought ?Oh Jesus, are they implying that Tom Brady won World War Two?!?!? I did like the national anthem with the military academies, nice touch and great way to bring in the troops. The pregame music with the school for deaf and blind had me a little confused, and I thought showing Ray Charles singing with Alecia Keys was a little bit much, but I am cynical and surly, so you can take what I think with a grain of salt.

- Boston is treating the Patriots winning like my daughter treats me when I get home from work every day. She?s glad to see me but quickly gets back to her Barbie dolls. Maybe it?s because the Patriots winning, constantly, is expected, but it just seems like the celebration is kind of subdued. Who knows, maybe it?s just me and I am in the middle of a sports hell with a Red Sox championship sandwiched between two Patriot Super Bowl titles. Hey, if the Nicks end up in last place, my NY sports affliction will feel like a stomach virus on an airplane, stuck on the tarmac, in the middle seat, next to a goat-smelling redneck, with a 5 hour plane ride ahead, and no battery life left in my laptop, and my book left behind in my hotel room, and malaria-grade diarrhea.

- Belichick called into the Howard Stern show the morning after winning. Very surprising but I heard most of the interview. Stern ended the call by asking the coach if he and his wife had sex after the game. And Howard Stern wonder?s why more respectable personalities don?t call in.

My last comment on the Super Bowl is that despite the mediocre plays, the average commercials, the lackluster half time show, the let down of the incumbent winning, it was still a fun day and I look forward to next year.

Posted by David at 08:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Follow up to the Tom Brady post.

Ok, his grandmother died and that is sad. Anytime ANYONE dies it is sad, except for really bad people, but then poster-boy for all that is good comes out and says something like ?she?ll be watching down on us? and ?win this for gamma?. Good grief.

And then ESPN had a picture of Patriots coach Belichick and Albert Einstein and asked who more of a genius was. Let me get this straight. While I know the article was tongue-in-cheek, and anyone smart enough to make it out of junior high, which by the way excludes about 50% of Patriot fans, doesn?t really believe that a football coach is smarter than Einstein. They are comparing a man who has won 2 out of 3 Super Bowls and will probably win 3 out of 4, with someone who was the greatest scientist of the last 200 years and realized E=MC squared, came up with the idea and proof of the existence of atoms, invented quantum theory whatever that is, proposed the theory of relativity, contributed to the theory of statistical mechanics and won a Nobel prize for his explanation of photoelectric effect. Now, personally, I have no idea what any of that means, science was not my strong subject on any level, but I know that it probably, just a guess here, adds more to the betterment of human existence than coaching a bunch of large men.

So now I not only hear about the sainthood of Thomas Brady but the genius of Coach Belichick. On the heals of the Red Sox winning and BC (I went to anther Big East school) going undefeated. A very humbling time to be in Boston for a non-Boston fan.

By the way, my rant and rave aside, I am looking forward to the game. For the most part I like the Patriots because they play the way the Yankees play, to win. They keep their mouths shut (please Red Sox fans, no comments here, just this once, you won and let it go), play like champions and act like professionals. On the flip side, Philadelphia has great fans and is a great city (I spent a few months there for work) and I would like to see someone win a championship who has not won in a while (I know, I know, I am a hypocrite). I am interested to see what the Patriots defense does (zone or man to man), wonder if McNabb will stay to his success this year or start to run more and see if Westbrook returns punts, something that could make the game interesting. And oh yeah, I am interested in the commercials.

Posted by David at 08:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Enough about Tom Brady already!! If I hear one more thing about how great of a guy he is and how he played with a fever and how mature of a player he is for being so young and blah blah blah. I get it. Tom Brady is the super hero of football. He can do no wrong. He is the most wonderful human being of our time. I am sick of it. Yeah, he is a good football player. Yeah, he is good looking and has tons of money. Sure, he gives good interviews. Yup, two Super Bowl MVP awards is pretty impressive. I agree, playing with a fever was impressive. But enough already. Can?t they talk about something else, like any of the other football players on the team? Or the other team. Ugh.

Posted by David at 09:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I just heard the shocking news that Jason Giambi was doing steroids? When was this announced? This is the first I ever heard of it. I don?t know about this nonsense. Jason does not have the body type that would indicate steroid use. He is so thin and lanky. I thought his monster home runs came from his text book perfect baseball swing. When he came back this year, he lost so much weight by not eating junk food and Doritos. And if there is one thing I am sure of, it is that NO ONE else in Major League Baseball is doing steroids. Boy, doing steroids. I would have been less shocked if I heard Cashman was slaughtering a goat before each playoff game. And as sure as I am that the sun will rise, I KNOW Steinbrenner did not know Jason was doing steroids when he paid him 17 million a year to come to Yankee stadium to play first base.

By the way, I am being sarcastic.

Posted by David at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I got an email the other day from someone who runs a Boston Celtics fan website. This person wanted me to link their site to my anti red sox site and they would link my site to theirs. Um, I might be way off here, but why the f**k would I want Celtic fans coming to my site. Unless of course they are Yankee fans but the chances of that are, oh, I don?t know, about zero. And on top of it, I would watch the Knitting Channel before I watched a Celtic?s game. I am not a big NBA fan and pretty much only watch the Knicks when there is absolutely nothing else or when the NBA is deep into the playoffs (usually the Nicks and ?deep into the playoffs? are not said in the same sentence) when good teams are playing. So sure, I will link to your Celtics fan site, right after I post naked pictures of myself.

Posted by David at 02:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This message is to all Yankee fans. Please read on. For you Red Sox fans out there, go celebrate your World Series. <i>You bastards</i>. You deserve it. Actually, you do not deserve it. You deserve it as much as any NBA rookie deserves a 300K dollar car, but go celebrate anyway. It?s been a long time coming. <i>I hate you so much</i>.

As for my fellow Yankee fans, I have a few things to say.

Continue reading "Message to Yankee fans" »

Posted by David at 08:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Congrats to the Red Sox on winning the World Series.

Posted by David at 08:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, that?s it Yankee fans. It?s over. It?s done. Let your heads drop for a while. Lower your eyes. Stick your hands in your pockets and let out a breath of air. The Yankees have lost to the Red Sox.

Lyrics from an Elton John song come to mind.

?I'm sorry I took your time
I am the poem that doesn't rhyme
Just turn back a page, I'll waste away. ?

The song is titled ?Goodbye?. And that is what I am saying. My hat is off to the Sox organization. I might not like their style, the moron crap, long hair, goofiness, throwing each other under the bus, complaining about the manager in public, faking illness to help out a friend, the list goes on and on. But they do know how to win. This year.

Look, any Yankee fan cannot complain. The mid to late 80s and early 90s were not good, but the last 10 years were fun. Actually, the last 100 years were fun. But as long as we have no salary cap, everyone in MLB should get used to the Sox and Yankees competing in October. 99, ?03 and now ?04 featured the Yanks and Sox in the ALCS. It was a matter of odds that the Sox would beat the Yankees. I just wished it happened next year. Or the year after.

After the Sox went up 6 -0, my friend Adam sent me an instant message. He is trying to make me feel better about losing. He is consoling me. Consoling me with stuff like ?hell, they're in game 7 of the ALCS, were a swing of the bat away from taking it last night...it's not like they're sucking ass. I mean, yeah, they blew the lead but..? Sweet mother of God, I am on the other side of the fence.

Sooooooo, this is what it feels like to be a Sox fan. This is what it?s like to end up leaving the dance alone. This is what it feels like walking away one number short of the winning lottery ticket. I am a?no?a?loser. Well, my baseball team is at least. But you get the idea.

The famous W.H. Auden poem ?Funeral Blues? comes to mind as well. It might be a little melodramatic, but you get the drink.

Anyway, I am done writing for a while. The Sox winning took a little bit of wind out of my sails. It?s just not as much fun writing about the Sox when they beat the Yankees. Kind of like calling a better looking guy ?ugly?. It is a shallow insult.

Goodbye and be well. I?ll stay in touch.

- David, a humbled Yankee fan.

Posted by David at 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is my final comment before the game tonight.

I refrained from saying anything about this series because most of it was obnoxious anti Red Sox stuff that the Sox so very much deserve. But in true baseball fashion of superstition I decided to not put pen to paper and wait until the Yanks won the ALCS. But as I see this ship slowly sink lower in the water I am wondering if that time will ever come. Because I can?t write about an event that has yet to take place I am not going to rip on the Sox. I am going to rip on the Yanks. Or at least one player.

I love the Yanks. I really do. Great players. Great management. Owner who doesn?t have alligator arms. Great history. But some things must be said.

First, have you ever read The Girl Who Loves Tom Gordon by Steven King? If the Yanks lose this thing then get ready to read the Angry Fan Who Hates Tom Gordon. Watching him walk out to the mound is like watching a prison riot ? no good can come from it. Hell, I would rather see Torre pitching them Gordon these days. He sucks. He gets out there to give Mo some rest and the only thing that happens is Mo has to come in a closer game with runners on base. Look, I know he pitched a lot this year and is tired, but give me a break. The Red Sox are hitting like..well?the Red Sox, and Gordon STILL can?t get them out. Ugh.

The Sunday morning after the Yankee shellacking of the Sox my friends and neighbors all walked around like they just saw their grandmothers naked. Mumbling under their breath they kept saying ?Did that really happen?? The Yanks should have put the nail in the coffin. But nope. Here we are on Wednesday hoping the Yanks can find some way to win.

Momentum is on the Sox side and if the Yanks lose tonight, there?s gonna be a lot of ah-splaining to do. Please, for the love of those ofus living in Boston but Yankee fans, let the Yanks win tonight.

Posted by David at 03:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I am almost giddy with excitement. I am not joking. I can?t wait for these games. There is so much to talk about I feel like I did when I was 6 and found my Easter basket. Do I eat the ears off the extra large bunny first or start with the marshmallow eggs.

So let me begin with my prediction. Yanks in 6. Sox in 5. Sox in 7. Yanks in 4. Sox in 2. Yanks in 9. These are all things I have said over the past 3 days. I am terrible at predicting winners. The only time I was 100% sure about something and 100% right was the magical Yankee team of 1998. I knew, KNEW, they would win the World Series and win it with ease. So while I think the Yanks should win, and my head tells me the Sox are the better team, I have no idea who will win.

I hate the Red Sox. Everyone knows that. I think Pedro is a cry baby who talks like some spoiled rich kid brat who knows his daddy, not referring to the Yankees, will buy him whatever he wants. This site has chronicled his crap for the past couple of years. Curt is pretty cool because he is a gamer but by not going to the Yankees when he had the chance he is now my enemy. Damon looks like an idiot and catches like a girl, Terry is a goober, Manny looks like he just walked into his high school prom and no one was there, Veritek needs to learn how to fight fair because if I see that image of Veritek attacking the innocent ARod one more time I am going to punch my fence, which has the same personality as Veritek, Millar is a redneck cowboy from Southern California who goes to far with the cowboy image thing when his accent sounds made up, Ortiz amazes me how he stands, let alone runs the bases, with that tremendous amount of fat on his frame. Jesus, that guy looks like a fat camp ?before? picture.

The Yanks, on the other hand, are like the IBM to some pony tail jean wearing dot com joke from 1998. The Yanks are proud and professional. The Sox do not care what other people think of them. The Yanks do that fist bump thing when they win important games. The Sox run around the field half naked with beer hats on yelling, followed by man hugs that make me uncomfortable watching from the safety of my house. The Yanks never complain about playing time and are grateful for being on a winning team. The Sox complain to the press about playing time before a game, fake illness to help out complaining buddies and walk all over Goober and show no respect at all. The one thing I do like about the Sox is that they always always do something stupid to make for a good read. The Yanks have to work hard to create controversy.

Tonight will mean nothing because if Schilling wins, he was suppose to. If the Yanks win, they still have to overcome suspect pitching. The best case scenario will be for the Yanks to win four games straight by a combined score of 46 -1 and win at Fenway to give the Fenway Faithful something to think about for another year and do a dance on the Green Monster. The sad thing is there is no worst case scenario. If the Sox win, they will be in the World Series, which fits with the average (1946 against the Cardinals, 1967 against the Cardinals, 1975 against the Reds, 1986 against the Mets) of once about every 15 or so years. If they happen to overcome their own ineptitude and win, then good for them. It will make the fighting between the fans not as much fun, but it will take about 20 more WS wins to be a fair fight.

Posted by David at 05:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Congratulations to all Red Sox fans. You have reached the ALCS, just like you did last year and in 1999, a chance at the Pennant.

Congratulations to all Yankee fans. You have reached the ALCS, just like did last year and in 2001 and in 2000 and 1999, 1998 and in 1996, a chance at the Pennant.

As someone who passively roots for the Yanks, I really wanted the Sox to win the ALDS, which is not really the division championship series because the Yanks won the AL East and the Angels had won the AL West but since both leagues went to 3 divisions in 1994 they need to have something to give extra teams a chance, especially when more NBA and NHL teams make the playoffs than DON?T make the playoffs and MLB used to only have 1, ONE, team from each conference play in the World Series. That is why the great teams won so many in a row in the past. You see the Yankee teams of old winning year after year because back then the team with the best record in each league won the pennant and went to the World Series. No playoffs. Since the Yanks started winning in 1996 they went from having to win 4 games to win the ring to having to win 11. Two rounds of playoffs. 19 games. Ugh.

Anyway, I digress. So the Sox beat the Angels which is good because Boston has the most passionate fans out of any town except maybe Chicago or NY and I would almost say Red Sox fans are more into it than NY because this is all they have in Boston. And Anaheim doesn?t deserve it because no one cares about baseball there. But more importantly I am glad the Yanks get to play the Sox because the two best teams in the American league are competing for a spot in the Series.

On Tuesday, right before the game, Joe Torre is going to walk out to a spot between second and third, squat down, grab a fistful of dirt, look around and whisper ?Unleash Hell?.

Let the games begin. Sox fans, appreciate the ALCS because it will be your last for a while.

Posted by David at 04:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Let me do a quick recap of the Red Sox season so far.

In April, the first month of baseball, the Red Sox were mowing down the opposition like the reigning World Series winners they were. They were beating up on Seattle, Tampa and Baltimore like they were last place teams. They spanked the Yankees and made them look like they just got back from a trip to Japan. They were flying higher than Brett Favre with a full bottle of vikes.

Then the season started and they played three months of 500 ball. They would win one, lose one. The team was not happy, the media was all over them, fans were a tad upset. I was feeling pretty good. The Yanks had a 10 game lead and the joy of April seemed months behind them.

August came and Johnny Damon let his hair down. They started beating up on Tampa, Detroit, Chicago, Toronto, all very good teams with winning records, and gained some ground on the Yanks. Joy and bliss behold, they closed the gap with the hated Yankees and were now only 2 games behind. Sweet mercy, they might take the division.

This continued for the first two weeks of September. There was hope again in Red Sox Nation. They WERE going to win the division, and get home field advantage in the playoffs, and WIN THE WORLD SERIES. After all, this team is not a bunch of misfits who do what they want, complain to the media about playing time, celebrate on the field and give more hugs than closing day at Little Princess Pre-School in Cambridge. No, this team was a bunch of professionals who were stoic after each win as if they were just doing their jobs. Winning was not a surprise, it was a given. Yes, this was the yank?sorry, the Red Sox.

Then things came to a screeching halt. The Sox lost two out of three, in very bad ways, to the Yanks. They lost to Baltimore and when they did win, it was by last minute heroics. Then Pedro pulled a Pedro, and did we expect anything less, when Terry left him in too long in the game (hmm, let me think, when did that happen before to Pedro, hmmm, nope, can?t remember), and the Sox lost the first of the final three games against the Yanks. Pedro kept his back to the team manager and did not even look at him when he handed over the ball and walked off the mound. Yes, this team is full of class.

Oh sure, they will pull it together. They will enter the post season on a high note I am sure. When they clinch the wild card spot I am sure they will celebrate like last year. Run around like a bunch of morons on prom night yelling ?I LOVE BEER?. Then, if a butterfly in China lands on the right flower, the Yanks and Sox will meet again in the post season and we can see who the true winners are.

NOTE: If you are a Red Sox fan, most of this blog was sarcasm. Just thought I?d spell it out for you because I don?t think they taught sarcasm in 6th grade, your final year of structured schooling.

Posted by David at 09:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If anyone is reading this and wants to do me a favor, please register to win a chance to purchase tickets to the Red Sox post season games.

Because the Red Sox have a huge fan base, and because games in October are pretty freakin rare, the Sox are having a drawing to win a chance to purchase tickets. Strange, I know, but if you live around here you would understand how hard it is to get tickets. The deadline to register is end of day on Wed Sept 22.

So go to the red sox site (www.redsox.com) or <a href="http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/bos/ticketing/alds.jsp?loc=form" target=_blank> click here </a> and register.

This does not mean you have to buy tickets. It only gives you a chance to buy tickets. If you are selected, I'd like to actually buy the tickets.

Thanks,
Dave

Posted by David at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hello. My name is David and I have a problem. I hate the Red Sox.

<i>Hello David. </i>

I remember the exact date and time I started having this problem. It was May 4, 1998, at 9:07 AM, two days after I moved up from NY to start a new job in Boston. I was sitting in a training class in a building in downtown Boston when I overheard these two jerks mouthing off about how the Yankees suck and this was the Red Sox year and they were so freakin� wrong it made me want to throw up in my�

<i>David, speak of positive things, not hateful things. </i>

Ok, sorry. Like I was saying, it all started within a few days after moving up from NY to start a new job. And each day it gets worse and worse. Even after 6 pennants and 4 World Series rings, it continues every day. Red Sox fans just don�t get. They just don�t get. And I know I have a problem and need help.

<i>Tell us more David.</i>

The time I realized Red Sox fans were out of control and had lost all contact with reality was this Yankees/Red Sox series in May 1998. I had only been here a couple of weeks and I was in another training class and it was the Monday after the series. Pedro had pitched a gem and the Yanks lost all three games or something. There was a real idiot�

<i>Watch the language David.</i>

�in the class going off on how the Sox were DEFINITELY a better team than the Yanks. His only point to prove this was that the Sox won all three games. Now that I think about it, it might have been only two games. So he was going on and on and not listening or even had an ounce of willingness to accept the fact that the Sox might not be the best team in the history of the world. All he would say is �three games in a row, three games in a row�. Even the other people in the class were uncomfortable about his attitude.

<i>What did you do?</i>

One thing I wanted to do was stick a pen through the guy�s skull. But I just let it go and the Yankees went on to win 114 games, go undefeated in the playoffs, sweep San Diego in the World Series and were considered one of the greatest teams to ever play major league baseball.

<i>And how are you doing today?</i>

How do you think? I have a website up just for the purpose of putting the Red Sox fans in their place. And I spend a lot of time maintaining it. I listen to sports radio and read sports all day long. That is what living and working with Red Sox fans has done to me. It has turned a bright, visceral, outgoing, positive young man into ME. And my buddy Jay from Somerville is to blame. You know WHY?? Because JAY PERSONIFIES ALL THAT IS EVIL AROUND HERE. He thinks only one thing � the Yankees suck. Now Jay might not be the tallest mast on the ship, but he knows his sports. And Jay was one of my first friends when I moved here and is still a good buddy, so I spent a lot of time with him. And he has made my heart as black as the inside of Mary Kate Olsen�s fridge. But he is not to blame, because it is the culture in this town to think this way.

<i>What are you going to do to get better?</i>

Nada. At this point, I have too much invested in my campaign to do anything except continue down my destructive path. So for all of you Red Sox fans out there, kiss my�

<i>David, we need to push peace. </i>

Sorry. I will try to take the high road and be a better person and enjoy the wonderful game of professional baseball.

Posted by David at 03:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

That?s it. Nomar is gone. A friend from Chicago sent me this email.

Subject: Thank you.. Thank you. Thank you

Body of Message: Please pass along our thanks to your Boston neighbors, friends, cab drivers, anyone you meet on the street.. from Cub fans everywhere! See you and the Yankees in October!

I could not have said it better myself. Reading the Chicago Tribune online Sunday morning was like listening to someone discover a Rembrandt in their attic. The Cubs got one of the best shortstops TO EVER PLAY THE GAME in return for two minor leaguers and a useless shortstop. And not even their best minor leaguers. The Red Sox gave up one of the best shortstops TO EVER PLAY THE GAME and got some malcontent and angry mediocre first baseman and a shortstop that looks like an ewok in a baseball uniform. Hell, they could have gotten Manischewitz WITHOUT giving up Nomar.

One article had this to say.

?The trade that is bringing the 31-year-old Garciaparra, a five-time All-Star and .386 hitter this July, isn't just too good to be true. It's so good that Cubs general manager Jim Hendry needs your prayers. He must have sold his soul to beat the curse.

Hendry should feel guilty about taking advantage of the young Red Sox GM, Theo Epstein. For whatever reason, the most likely being the lingering bad feelings from Epstein's and team President Larry Lucchino's pursuit of Alex Rodriguez last winter, the Red Sox seemed determined to deal the Boston icon, who has been featured in "Saturday Night Live" skits.?

But they had to do something. Nomar was miserable here and was making everyone else miserable. He was treated like crap, whined like a baby, played sick to make a point, and things were getting worse and worse. If reports are true, he was telling the Sox that he might have to go back on the DL to nurse his bruised ego, I mean take care of his leg or heel or something. But now that he is in Chicago word is that he is all better. Funny how getting your way makes things better. Hell, when my daughter is throwing a harry in a store and I finally give in to stop the embarrassment and give her a lollipop, she stops crying too.

This might go down as one of those ?on my watch? things like the fact that people keep bring up that Clemens was lost on Duquette?s watch. Theo is a young GM who traded Nomar to try to make a run at the playoffs and World Series. There was little chance they would have made it with the way things were going, so he gambled. Not sure if it will work out but I will surely miss the ass-kicking Nomar got in the press day after day. I wonder who the next punching bag will be.

Posted by David at 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Red Sox realize they cannot beat the Yankees using conventional methods, like good defense, good hitting and good pitching. They have a collective inferiority complex because the better looking and more successful older brother (Yankees) always get the girl and mom and dad?s attention.

So what do they do?

They have Bronson Arroyo hit Alex Rodriguez. They have their 27 year old 5.0 lifetime ERA pitcher hit Alex with a pitch and let?s be honest, despite that dumb farm boy humble act he put on, he DID hit him. Then tough guy Varitek, who I kind of like, or liked, goes after Rodriquez because he was jawing at the pitcher. Sure, I can see Varitek getting between ARod and the pitcher because that is how it?s done, but did he have to take a swing at him. Most fights in the majors today are push and shove and ?hold me back? crap. So it was a GREAT plan. Take out one of the best players to EVER play the game, lose your freakin catcher, and see what happens.

Well, it worked. They won the game. They BARELY won the game, but then went out the next night and won the third game of the series. Good for them. Good for them to finally realize playing baseball will not win them anything. After the first 5 or 6 weeks of the season, the Red Sox, second highest payroll in baseball, are a .500 team. Pathetic. So they start throwing the ball around and start fights and get all jazzed up and YOORAW!! And all of that macho crap.

I forgot one other thing. And this one is a bute that people are not talking about. The Red Sox tell the Yankees the game will not be played. The Yanks shower and head to the bus. At which point some 7 dollar an hour assistant assistant to the assistant comes running after the team bus banging on the side as it gains speed. The bus driver stops and the kid through huffing and buffing breaths tells them the game is on. Oh sure, like Francona said, I am sure it was a ?communication? mix up.

Meanwhile, the Yanks will continue to go out and win games. They will continue to take a very professional and winning approach and do their best. They have problems as we all know. Pitching is suspect, Giambi has that bizarre health issue, but the Yanks will be fine.

The Sox will use Saturday?s pathetic display of sportsmanship to go out and win a few games and feel good about themselves, but deep down inside they know they have to resort to sandlot foolery because they are just not in the same league as the Yankees.

Posted by David at 09:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Interesting. June 16th and the Red Sox are 4 and a half games out. My friend Uncle Billy said that the Yanks would be up by 6 games in mid July. Looks like it might be before that. All the nonsense I have been hearing so far, our pitching is great, wait until Nomar gets back, we have a real closer, THIS IS OUR YEAR. And that was all before a single game had been played. And now this. A couple of losses, the Yanks win in crazy ways, and things are not looking so bright. Good times in Bean town, good times. Little Pettie started pitching well and now all is right with the world. The goon finally found his stinker, sorry, sinker, ball and all is right with the world. Ortiz, who I actually like, signed a contract and all is right with the world.

Hey Sox Nation, let me ask you a question. Deep down inside, down where no one is able to get to, down inside your heart where there is a black crevice, where you no longer turn to for moral guidance, ask this question. Do you really think the Sox will win the World Series? Oh sure, you can say all you want. You can hope and pray and posture in front of your friends while drunk at your Somerville parties. You can send emails while at work and post comments on blogs, but do you really think so? Do you? You know that deep down inside President Clinton knew what he was doing with that intern was wrong despite what he tells everyone. And so you, Sox fan, know you have no chance. Do you really think they will win it all? No. Of course not. You know it and I know it. Stop this nonsense and be honest with yourself and others. It?s not going to happen and your pathetic and sad display of confidence will never change that.

Posted by David at 01:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Spring training ? Trot Nixon comes down with unexplained back problems that will sideline him until May. <b>Wagon is making funny noise.</b>

Spring training ? Nomar Garciaparra goes hitless, than has to sit out the rest of spring training and the beginning of the season with an injury. <b>Wagon develops slight bump. </b>

Spring Training ? Manny Ramirez doesn?t hit a home run until the end of spring training. <b>Wagon starts to shimmy</b>.

Spring Training ? Pedro Martinez gets hit hard and is not throwing heat. <b>Wagon is jumping up and down. </b>

Spring Training ? Keith Foulke gets shelled game after game. <b>Wagon is all over the road. </b>

Regular Season ? Opening night Pedro Martinez gets the loss, Timlin gets shelled and Pedro leaves the game early. <b>Wagon is uncontrollable</b>.

Regular Season ? New manager Terry Fancona takes the blame for Pedro leaving early by saying he did not tell a veteran player about a very obvious and long-adhered to rule of leaving a game early. <b>Wagon is violently throwing driver and any unsecured articles around. </b>

Regular Season ? Sox lose a 13 inning game on April 8 by walking 4 people, including the losing run, in the final inning. Francona starts McCarty at first base and lets better players sit on bench. <b>Wagon?s wheels are not held on by lug nuts anymore. </b>

Regular Season ? Francona puts fielder McCarty in to pitch in late innings during a home opener loss. <b>Wheels about to slip off the wagon?s axels. </b>

Regular Season ? Pedro Martinez pitches 7 and 2/3 inning, four-hit, one-run, 7-strike out masterpiece during an April 10th 4-1 win, appearing dominate and confident like the Pedro of old. <b>Wheels are back on the wagon. </b>

Posted by David at 08:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Oh wait, I forgot. That would mean scouting the local junior high girl?s hockey team for someone who is 135 pounds and cries like a girl. Let me get this straight. Last year in October, a baseball month usually reserved for the Annual Red Sox Player?s Cruise, you found yourself playing against the Yankees in game 3 of the pennant series. A couple of weeks ago you were mouthing off, rare, I know, for you, about the Karim Garcia ?incident? that lead to a near bloodbath involving an 80 year old fat guy. And this is what you said.

"I was having a bad day. I was struggling. There wasn't a good time for me to do anything bad at that point . . . Karim Garcia. Who's Karim Garcia? I have no respect for that guy, I don't have anything to prove to that guy. He needs to be forcing himself to come up to where I am, to my level. When you talk about [Derek] Jeter, Bernie Williams, Paul O'Neill, guys like that that you really tip your hat, that you can understand, but guys like Karim Garcia, what? So what? Who are you? Who are you, Karim Garcia, to try to tell Pedro Martinez, a proven player for 10 years?"

So let me get this straight. The better players don?t get the ball thrown at their heads, only the mediocre players. If Karim was, say, a 330 lifetime hitter, than you would not have thrown at his head, right? Good thing the Yanks have a lineup of superstars this year, otherwise their might be a whole lotta beanin?. Please allow me to comment on your statement, Pedro.

- About the only thing you said that was true in that statement was ?I was struggling?. Yes you were. You were getting hit like a piñ¡´¡ and Karim was an easy target because the press would not ream you the same as if you went after a superstar.
- NEVER, EVER put yourself on the same level as Jeter, Williams and O?Neill. Those guys play and act with class and dignity. Those guys play hard and treat others with respect, including the media. You throw at guys because they try to tell Pedro Martinez, a proven player for 10 years, what to do. Or something like that.
- Let?s be realistic about the 10 years thing. From 97-2001 you were the best of the best of the best. But early in your career you were a good, but not great, pitcher. Let?s have a little self awareness, shall we.
- Paul O?Neill is not still on the Yankees, he retired.
- This is my memory of the game. You were getting hit around. You decide to take it out on a player who is not as well known or good, but had been hitting you none the less, by throwing at his head. And let?s continue to be honest here, you did throw at his head. If I recall the incident correctly, the ball went BEHIND his head. Karim slides hard into second base and tries to take out Todd Walker. That was wrong but that is how the game is played. Then, in the bottom half of the inning, one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen happened. Clemens threw a pitch right down the middle of the plate to Manny Raminerz. It was a little high, but nowwhere inside. A couple of inches lower and it would have been a strike! Then that other spoiled idiot Manny charges the mound like Jose Canseco arguing with his wife and starts a fight that I will remember until the day they wheel me out of a nursing home on a gurney. YOU, Pedro, caused all of that crap. Not Clemens, not Manny, not Karim, not the Zim, not Walker. YOU DID. I?ll even forgive you for telling Posada that he is next because as you describe it, you were telling him to ?think? as you pointed at your own head, pointed at him, and held the baseball up and made a deliberate motion of the ball coming at you and hitting you in the middle of your face, then mouthing ?this will be you beak nose?.

I know this spring training thing with you is all a ruse. You like playing these games because you?re a great pitcher and superstar, and I am sure you?ll hit 95 and have an ERA under 2 and win 17 games or something. But too bad you?re such a freakin baby and had to 1) throw Grady Little under the bus during the off season, and 2) say stupid things about trying to hurt a guy during an important playoff game. Pedro, good luck this year and have fun playing golf in October.

Posted by David at 09:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was in my hotel room the other night, watching ESPN, when I saw something as rare as an alcohol free weekend at the John Daly house ? Nomar Garciappara doing an interview. There he was ? sitting at a table, outside in the warm sun, reporters and cameras all around him, talking openly and freely.

It was unbelievable. Nomar hates the media. And I am sure he still does, but because the Red Sox treated him like a piñ¡´¡ on Cinco de Maya during the off season, he needed to let the world, and more importantly Red Sox fans, know he is upset. The Red Sox management team played a risky game and lost by very publicly trying to get Alex Rodriquez and ship Nomar out of town and he didn?t appreciate it.

Hey, personally I get upset when I am not invited to lunch so I know where he is coming from. Imagine if you worked for a large company, for this example let?s say Microsoft. You start right out of college. You get underpaid and watch your friends, all who do the same thing as you, get paid much higher salaries from IBM, EDS, and Apple. During the first 8 or 9 years you are with Microsoft, you are their BEST employee. You are in fact one of the best workers in the industry. You win awards and everything. Then one day you are on vacation and read in the paper that Microsoft is trying to sell you to some start-up software company in the Midwest to make room for a star employee, who is grossly over paid, from IBM. Microsoft talks about you as being inflexible in dealing with your salary, and in fact offers you LESS than what they offered you a few months earlier to stay with them. And then, after the star employee from IBM decides to stay with IBM, Microsoft realizes with a deer-in-the-headlight look that they might have been a little insensitive.

Would you like it? Me either. And Nomar didn?t like it. So he finally said something of substance to the press and it was ?The Red Sox didn?t treat me well, and Nomar ain?t happy?. Can?t wait to see how this one plays out

Posted by David at 01:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Welllllllll....things just got a little more interesting. Stay tuned for more.

Update

"You'd almost have to feel sorry for the Red Sox if it wasn't for their own shortsighted nickel-and- diming routine that cost them the greatest player of this generation, maybe the greatest player since -- dare I say it -- yes, Babe Ruth."

<a href="http://www.newsday.com/ny-heyman0215,0,7937130.column?coll=ny-homepage-right-area" Target=_Blank>Read the entire article here.</a>

"When you told one of the kids working behind the counter at the huge Red Sox souvenir store across from the ballpark that the Yankees were going for A-Rod, he looked up and said, "No way."

"Way," he was told.

In a loud voice, the kid said, "Why?"

"Why are they getting the best player in baseball?"

The kid shook his head. "Why do they always do this to us?""

<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/164625p-144230c.html" Target=_Blank>You can read the rest of that article here. </a>

Now let's just hope it actually goes through.

<u>Update:</u> Tuesday, Around 11PM

I'm all jacked up on talk radio and local sports media, and chocolate. Since the Alex news broke I have basically listened to WEEI (local Boston talk radio) non stop. I have heard all the local yahoos take a break from buying scratch off tickets and 30 packs of Bud Lite, I have heard from Boston, Providence and New York media personalities weigh in on this and I have listened to some mild comments from friends and such. My two cents.

1. The Red Sox screwed up. They screwed up by putting Manny on wavers. They screwed up by trying to get ARod, nickel and diming Texas with him, letting Nomar know he is not wanted, and making the Yankees aware that Hicks wants to get rid of ARod at any cost.

2. The Yankees got lucky with Boone playing hoops, despite his contract not allowing it, and blowing out his knee and giving Georgie a reason to get another infielder.

3. Yes, it?s true the Yankees have a lot of money. I get it. Enough. Stop bringing it up. That has, and always will be, the back pocket argument by any Red Sox fan. The only thing different with this ARod mess is that the Sox tried to get him and failed. The Sox have deep pockets, second to only the Yankees, and were not smart enough to pull the trigger.

4. Speaking of deep pockets, ARod, as I understand it, is costing the Yankees 16 million a year. 16 MIL. 16 million dollars which is less than Jeter. Less than Manny. Less than Pedro. He is costing the Bronx Bombers less than two idiots on the Red Sox, one of which you tried to get rid of without expecting anything in return. That, to me, is great accounting. Hicks paid the Yanks 67 mil so they would take ARod off the table. Am I the only one to see this as a great deal??

5. Getting rid of Soriano hurt, but hurt like kiss. Are you telling me that anyone is going to miss his homeruns and stolen bases when the league MVP and one of the best players TO EVER PLAY THE GAME is replacing him. The only real difference is someone will have to pay him huge bucks next year and take on his suspect defense.

6. Jeter will not stay at short stop. Everyone has been saying it and I agree. For now, ARod will do better at third because Jeter can?t play third. Second, sure. But for my money, Georgie, and let?s be honest, Cashman is just the guy shouting out commands with a bullhorn, will trade Jeter for a stud pitcher when the Yanks fail to win the World Series next year. Everyone knows that great pitching wins the prize, and with Giambi, ARod, Sheffield, Posada and whoever else they get, trading Jeter for the next Clemens makes a lot of sense.

7. Who knows how this season will turn out. ARod could be a mess. As good as the Yanks are, they are not Brosius, O?Neill, Martinez, Wetland, Girardi, Knoblauch (yes, Knoblauch), Bernie and the other guys I associate with the great run that started in 1996. And who knows what the Sox will do. Curt and Pedro are two HUGE egos, Faulk is no Mendoza, they have a lot of guys in contract years, will Nixon and Ortiz and Mueller have great years. Who knows. Torre could get fired if the Yanks go on a losing streak. Anything could happen. All I know is there will be 19 games this year that will feel like miniature ALCS game sevens, with hopefully the same outcome.

Posted by David at 06:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I try not to talk too much about baseball during the off season, but following the loss of Andy Pettitte to the Astros, Yankee GM Brian Cashman said this

"We did make substantial attempts to keep him. But halfway through the process, I thought the pull of home is really what we were up against, and that's ultimately what happened. He's one of the special ones. No doubt about that. I'm glad he's not in Boston."

The Yankees usually downplay the focus on any one team, especially the Red Sox, but I guess things are changing a little.

Posted by David at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

According to the NFL Players Association, the college with the most NFL players from 1998-2002 was Notre Dame. They had 218 players, followed by Florida State (211), Miami (186), Texas A&M (182) and Tennessee (181).

The conference with the most (Notre Dame is not in a conference) is the Pac-10.

Out of players with degrees, Boston College has the highest percentage with 66% followed by Notre Dame with 62%. Washington State has 11%.

Georgia has the most starters, followed by Florida State and Syracuse. That stat is a little goofy because starters can change year to year.

Posted by David at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

[Below is an eval of the Red Sox players from <a href="mailto: craigjohnstone@mail.com">Craig J</a>, someone from Mass who is in a similar position as I (not originally from Mass, baseball fan, follows the Sox, roots for another team, doesn't particularly like the Sox). I added my own comments like this <u>David: </u> <i>text</i>. Read and enjoy, he's on target.]

Here's the Sports Guy on Fox?s apparent bias toward the Yankees: ?Well, here's your reward, guys: A Yankees-Marlins series that absolutely nobody will watch. Well done.? First of all ? on Fox hoping for the Yankees to win ? duh! The Yankees are only the most popular team in baseball, possibly in all of sports. Yes, millions of people hate them, but: 1) they are the most popular team in the number one market in the country; 2) there are millions of people in other markets who are transplanted New Yorkers or children of transplanted New Yorkers or whatever who are also fans. Plus, they are a team people like to hate. Many of those who hate them will still watch hoping they will lose. They?re not like the Giants who you might hate when you play against them but about whom you couldn?t care less when they?re playing someone else. Of course Fox wants the Yankees in the series. On the ratings issue, he?s only half right. Everyone, from Fox to baseball fans everywhere except Marlins fans (all 200 of them) and Cardinals fans, wanted to see the Cubs in the series. Cubs-Yankees would have been probably the highest rated series ever ? a true David vs. Goliath in action. Cubs-Red Sox would have drawn a fair amount of interest as well, because you knew one of the curses would have to come to an end (except in reality a Cubs-Red Sox series would probably signal Armageddon), but not as much as Cubs-Yankees. Nobody wants to see the Marlins. Nobody. Fox is counting its lucky stars that the Yanks are in it, because the only people who would have watched a Red Sox-Marlins series are the 200 aforementioned Marlins fans (and since most of them are over the age of 80, they might not all make it all the way through the series) and peoplein New England. This is what people from Massachusetts fail to understand ? that Boston stopped being ?the Hub? about when the War of 1812 ended. Nobody outside of New England gives a rat?s behind about the Sox. Ask someone in California or Texas about 1918 or the Curse of the Bambino or BillBuckner and you?ll get blank stares. It?s a regional team in a marginal region. Get over yourselves ? other than you and the Yankees fans that hate you, NO ONE CARES. The only thing worse for Fox than a Marlins-Red Sox series would be a Diamondbacks-Devil Rays series.

OK, now on them being a ?great bunch of guys? and a ?likable (sic) team?. Well, ahem, non-Red-Sox fans may beg to differ about how likeable all of them are.

Let?s go around the horn and check the old Like-O-Meter for the major players from the Sox. The Like-O-Meter represents the ultrascientific findings of my poll of everyone I could find who is 1) a baseball fan, but 2) neither a Red Sox nor Yankees fan.

Jason Varitek ? despite the fact that his last name sounds like a software company, and that he, like most people including everyone on the Sox, looks awful with a Van Dyke, seems like a decent enough guy. We would have some major criticisms of him as a defensive catcher if we were his manager, such as standing up for high fastballs and using his hands third-base-coach style instead of his fingers to call for pitches with runners on base, but we can?t see any reason not to like the guy and are sure he?s a decent enough fellow, even if he does need some help in the personal grooming department. Like-O-Meter rings him up at an A-.

<u>David:</u> <i>Overall I like this guy. Doesn't talk crap, plays hard, good team guy. But I still have problems with the fact that he had (and might still have) Scott Boras as an agent when he came out of Georgia Tech as the year's best catching prospect only to refuse to sign when Seattle didn't meet Boras' high demand, creating an ugly situation. But I guess you can't blame a player for wanting a ton of money to play a sport right out of college. </i>

Kevin Millar ? Oh my god, where to start on one of the biggest dirtbags to ever play the game??? If this guy gains a few more pounds, he could be Jon Kruk?s brother. Millar is the kind of guy you see at wet T-shirt contests in Daytona wearing a sleeveless T-shirt that says, ?Free Moustache rides? and a Harley bandana on his head trying to pick up college girls. And ?Cowboy Up?? Spare us. Stupid made-up catch phrases don?t win championships (and neither does hitting .240) Like-O-Meter can barely register, but gives him a D- only because we need to save room for Manny and Pedro.

<u>David:</u> <i>This guy should be shot simply for the Cowboy Up crap he started. And the Born in the USA thing or whatever he was doing with that Bruce S. song. Ugh. That Cowboy Up thing was annoying two seconds after he said it. And the yahoos around here loved it. Send him to Japaon.</i>

David Ortiz ? was probably a decent person until he got around Pedro and Manny. They seem to have corrupted him. Watching him huddle together with those two thugs on the end of the bench reminds us of those times in school when you would see the kid who used to be your friend and was once a normal kid but then something went wrong and he fell in with the juvenile delinquents and then you would see him with his new hoodlum buddies under the bleachers slouching together to smoke and plan how they?re going to rip off Metallica (or nowadays it would be Eminem) CDs at K-Mart after school and then egg the gym teacher?s house. Good hitter, though. Horrible defensive first baseman ? makes Giambi look like Mattingly. This guy should be a career DH. Like-O-Meter would give him a B+, but gets major points deducted for associating with Manny and Pedro so much, bringing him down to a C.

<u>David:</u> <i>I kid you not, I think I saw him and Manny tongue kissing. He took this team hug stuff way to far. I was starting to blush it got so bad. But I do like him because he seemed to come up big when needed most, except in the playoffs. </i>

Todd Walker. Again, we don?t know who?s giving these guys grooming tips, but he can?t pull off either the goatee or the blues patch that he?s had at various times throughout the year. Dude, you?re not hip - you look like a Mormon. Just show up dressed to play and play. Don?t try to get all Carson Daly on us. Other than that, we don?t have a problem with the guy. He?s a little annoying, but not a bad guy. Like-O-Meter gives him a B.

Nomar Garciaparra ? OK, he has OCD, but he can?t help that. Nomar is hands-down the classiest guy on the Sox. Great hitter (despite slumping a bit at the end of this year), good fielder, great guy. We don?t know anyone who wouldn?t want Nomar on their team. Look at the way he plays the game ? the way it was meant to be played. Look at the way he treats opponents ? with respect and class. He shows that you can play the game 100 percent to win and go all out without having to act like a complete ass in the process and/or belittle your opponents. Like-O-Meter clanging all the way up to an A+.

<u>David:</u> <i>I have to disagree with Craig here. This guy is probably the greatest shorstop in the game right now (behind Jeter and A Rod of course), but the media freakin hates him. He refused to talk to the media and instead of using them to help him, he turns other Sox players against them. Don't get me wrong, the media around here is brutal, but Nomar could try to use them in his favor for once. Plus he needed to shave his head during the playoffs, just for the jokes. </i>

Bill Mueller ? Well, he can?t pronounce his own name and, once again, we?ve got major problems with bad facial hair, but he seems like a decent person. The major complaint with him was the cheesiness he showed by sitting out the last day of the season to secure his batting title. Ted Williams played the last game when he was batting .400! His head must be spinning in its cryogenic chamber after watching what Mueller and Grady Little pulled. Sitting out the last day when you?re up by one point is the ultimate lame, cheesy, pathetic, unsportsmanlike cop-out. Like-O-Meter punishes him severely, dropping him down from a B to a C-.

Manny Ramirez ? There is nothing good that can be said about Manny with a straight face. Not about his horrible, selfish attitude; not about his copping out on his team in August when he had the ?flu? but could still party with Enrique Wilson in the hotel at night; not about his oversize uniform that makes a mockery of looking professional and makes him look like he?s trying out for the Backstreet Boys; not about the total lack of class he showed by trying to charge the mound WITH THE BAT IN HIS HAND!!! after a pitch that wasn?t even off the plate. Nothing. Zip. Nada. Manny Ramirez is probably the biggest scumbag in the game today. Worse than Bonds. The only possible exception is his teammate Pedro. Like-O-Meter doesn?t even move: F.

<u>David:</u> <i>Craig forgot that embarassing display right after he hit the homerun in Oakland. He was not even half way to first when the ball clear the wall and he pointed to his dugout. If I were the other team, I would have thrown baseballs at him from the dugout. WTF? He has to be JOKING with that display. Hey Manny, you do nothing all series, and celebrate like you just won prom king. Give it up you freakin jerk. </i>

Johnny Damon ? Like Nomar, another great guy who knows how to play the game with class. We love Johnny. What a good guy. Hustles all the way. Always has a great attitude. We would be proud to have him on our teams. We just pray Manny and the others don?t get to him. Like-O-Meter bounces back up to an A.

<u>David:</u> <i>Throws like a girl. Looks like a cave man. But nice enough guy and was part of one of the worst on-field collisions I've ever seen.</i>

Trot Nixon ? Well, if you heard his speech after hitting the home run in Game 3 against Oakland, you know the guy has the Power and the Glory on his side. So, we can?t be too hard on someone who probably has a glow-in-the-dark plastic Jesus on his dashboard. In the appearance department, Trot needs a visit from the Fab Five. What is it with this team and ugly facial hair? Other than the fact that he is physically a mess and really needs some tips on looking professional (Memo to Trot: It does not show class or respect for your organization to look like you came to work directly from a coal mine. There?s a reason your team put a logo on your batting helmet. If no one can see it, it?s time to clean off the pine tar!), he?s probably a decent guy. Like-O-Meter gives him a B.

<u>David:</u> <i>One of the original dirt dogs. Hate that phrase. But seems like nice enough guy. Could lose some weight though. </i>

Derek Lowe ? The Like-O-Meter was pretty neutral about him before this year. He used to get sympathy votes for being such an awful closer who would always give up the big home run at the worst possible time. He never seemed to do anything bad or anything particularly good. He was just there. That was until he came in for the save against Oakland and acted like a complete jackass. The Like-O-Meter doesn?t care what he said in the papers the next day: yes, he WAS obviously giving the big Fungoo to the Oakland dugout and it showed NO class at all. Manny and Pedro must have gotten to him. Without negative role models like those two around, he would probably be fine. Now, the Like-O-Meter fears he?s degenerating. He gets a C, but could be slipping fast.

Tim Wakefield ? after what happened to him last night, we?ll just leave the poor guy alone.

John Burkett ? Like-O-Meter can?t find a problem with him. Doesn?t seem to go out of his way to have a positive influence like Nomar, but I think he?s just riding out the days till his retirement and enjoying being able to still throw the ball once a week. Plus, how can you hate a guy who once bowled a 300? Like-O-Meter gives him an A-.

Jeff Suppan ? not even worth rating. He?s not a real Red Sock, he?s a rent-a-player for the stretch drive. He won?t even be in a Boston uniform come spring training.

<u>David:</u> <i>Hey Theo, keep this guy next year and make him a starter - from a Yankee fan. </i>

BK Kim ? cocky little punk who gave his own fans the finger. ?Nuff said. D.

<u>David:</u> <i> See my note for Suppan but change starter to closer.</i>

Alan Embree, Mike Timlin, Scott Williamson, Scott Sauerbeck ? Like-O-Meter can barely tell them apart. Here?s a hint: Embree?s the lefty with a dorky Van Dyke, Williamson?s the righty with the dorky Van Dyke, Timlin the clean-cut righty, and Sauerbeck?s the clean-cut lefty. See Jeff Suppan above.

Pedro Martinez ? trying to pick the least likeable player on the Sox reminds me of that Bill & Hillary joke. You remember, the one that goes something like, ?Bill and Hillary are both drowning, who gets saved? The country.? Substitute?Pedro and Manny? for ?Bill and Hillary? and ?the Red Sox? for ?the country? and you?ve pretty much nailed it. Don?t the Sox get it? Don?t they see what?s happened with people like Bonds and Albert Belle over the years? You just won?t win it all with total a*#holes in your clubhouse. The baseball gods won't allow it. At some point, you have to be held accountable for your character and behavior. I thought the Sox learned this lesson with Carl Everett. I don?t care how good a player is in terms of individual talent, guys like this are poison to a team. Pedro has always been a spoiled baby of a player. He showed it in LA when, as a snot-nosed, wet-behind the ears kid, he insisted he should be a star starter before he had proven anything and moped and sulked when he was sent to the bullpen. He proved it for four years in Montreal by acting like a spoiled brat prima donna. He proved it this past Spring Training when he bullied the Sox to pick up his option a year early or he would bolt. With his performance of throwing at Karim Garcia?s head and then miming that he would do the same to Jorge Posada, he showed the whole nation what those of us in New England have been seeing for years: he?s a total jerk. Plain and simple. The guy is just a downright complete and total jerk. Aside from his talent, he has no redeeming features. He let his team down that day in Boston, and he let his team down again last night by stubbornly refusing to come out of the game last night when he had nothing left. As long as his ego gets involved, he will always let his team down. The Sox should trade him now while he still has some trade value left. But, after his performance in the ALCS, he may be untradeable with the ridiculous salary he?s making combined with his antics. Like-O-Meter gives him a solid F.

<u>David:</u> <i>I couldn't agree more with Craig's assessment. The only thing more "Pedro" he could have done game three against the Yanks was to refuse to pitch the game unless the owners gave him a 3 year, 60 million contract extension. Let me get this straight - he tries to drill Garcia in the head because he was getting hit, he tells Posada that he is next, he pisses off Zim so much that the old fat man tries to hit him (I am laughing just typing that), and he loses game 7 for the pennant. Yep, there is a G*d. </i>

Posted by David at 04:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It?s been 2 days since the Yankees beat the Sox in game 7 of the ALCS and I haven?t posted any more than a quick comment on it. The reason, in all honesty, is that I am still in shock. I still can?t believe what happened. Friday morning I woke up and felt like I narrowly missed being in a really bad car accident. As a Yankee fan, I walked around in a daze and kept saying ?did that really happen?? Even this morning (Saturday), I still couldn?t believe it happened. 85 years of having the upper hand in a Sox Yanks argument, and having a huge upper hand for the last 8 years, was all coming to an end. If the Sox beat the Yanks for a shot at a World Series title, any argument I had would end up with me walking away, shoulders slumped, head down, mumbling to myself. I would lose just like Sox fans lose now.

If you think I am over reacting, or exaggerating, try being a huge baseball fan, a big Yankee fan, pretty opinionated, and living in Boston since 1998 (midst of a great Yankee run). I live and breathe sports in this town and feel like I have my finger on the Red Sox pulse from a media and fan point of view. I know Red Sox fans. I am friends with a ton of Sox fans and have spent hours, hours and hours over beers debating the whole Sox/Yanks thing. What happened Thursday night is about as hugely disappointing to Sox fans as 86 and Buckner. It has to be. Image playing the same lotto numbers every day for years, and then one day decide, for no real reason, to play different numbers. And image that on that day you played different numbers, your original numbers came in. That is about 1/10th of what Sox fans were feeling after Thursday night.

If Grady went with Embree against Matsui, and then Timlin and Williamson for the other 4 outs, there is not a doubt in my mind the Sox would be playing in the 2003 World Series. The Yankees were done Thursday night. They were not hitting and were about to meet the Lights OUT bullpen (awful during the year, great during the playoffs) of the Red Sox. The formula was working!! Get 7 stunning innings from Pedro and go with the bullpen crew for the 8th and 9th. No brainer. But for some inexplicable reason, he did not do that. Even my wife, who is not a sports fan but was watching every pitch of the game with me said (after Pedro gave up a hit to Bernie) ?Why are they leaving him in? He is giving up hits?? Let me add that she is a Red Sox fan and really wanted them to be in the WS. I was sure they were going with Embree to face Matsui. But didn?t. Then I was sure they would take him out after Matsui?s double. And I was SHOCKED when Grady left him in. At that point, I knew more than anything else that the Yankees were going to come back. I KNEW it. Grady Little blew it. He blew their chance by leaving Pedro in to struggle with the heart of the Yankees? order. After that, we all know what happened. Mariano gave 3 innings of heroic relief and the most unlikely guy hit a game winning home run.

Who knows what Grady was thinking? Can?t really blame Pedro because what makes him so good is his ego and desire to be the equivalent of a pitching Tiger Woods. His desire to want to stay in the game is what makes him so great. Guarantee that Clemens wanted to stay in the game in the 4th but Torre knew his time was up. It was just over. Nothing wrong with it, especially for Pedro who gave the Sox a great performance, but 100+ pitches is about it. I will never truly know why Grady did what everyone else knew was wrong. Heck, even my 17 month old daughter, when she woke up Friday morning, said to me ?Daddy, why didn?t Grady take Pedro out in the 8th?? Who knows? For me, who cares? The Yanks are competing for ring 27, the Sox probably blew their best chance in 16 years to win a World Series title (Florida is good, but much lesser teams can beat them), might not have this good of a group of guys in some time (will Mueller bat 320+ again, where will Nomar, Manny and Pedro be in the next couple of years, will Nixon have another good year) and there are millions of red and teary eyed Red Sox fans. I won?t bring up anything about a stupid curse or any nonsense like that, but it just seems like this group of classless morons got what they deserved. For the Sox fans, they are neither classless nor morons, and all joking aside, I feel bad for them this year. The Sox had them 5 outs from a World Series and they will have to fall back on ?At least the Patriots won a Super Bowl recently? argument.

Posted by David at 10:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

...and the winner of the ALCS MVP is Grady Little. Thanks for keeping Pedro in.

Posted by David at 12:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

...85 years of holding the upper hand...

Posted by David at 09:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The end is near...

Posted by David at 09:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

<i>This is a good reply from someone (I know who, but shall remain nameless) who is, not sure why because he's fairly bright, a Red Sox fan. It's in response to something I posted about Saturday's (Oct 11) game with the Sox and Yanks. </i>

So much to say..so many things to comment on...so much happened at Monday's night
game...brain overloading...words can't be typed fast enough...

...Ok...I am calm...relaxed...breathing....but this was a joke...and the NY media is
spinning EVERYTHING to make the Yankees seem totally innocent... thank goodness Tim
McCarver is not biased

Heredia's pitch just was off mark... he didn't mean to throw at Walker who has hit
more HRs in the last week than Nomar has even gotten his bat on the ball...

Karim Garcia is really Gandhi's mentor...

Don Zimmer was misunderstood because he thought that Pedro was blocking the way to
the inter-inning buffet...

a Red Sox employee had EVERY right to wave a Cowboy Out flag in the Yankees face...
(actually didn't happen that way... but the general point, as much as it hurts to
say this, I actually agree with this Webmaster)... the employee should not be
cheering in the visitor's bullpen.

Manny was almost hit by that pitch and did NOT over react...(We all agree that Manny
is a moron an no one is even arguing otherwise)

Garcia tried to KILL Walker... (part of the game and no one is complaining about
this. Just like Pedro throwing at Ghandi... except I guess this was *never* part of
the game in the last 100 years. We all know the Yankees would never do this and I
can understand why they would be upset.

Bottom line and summary:
Pedro is a pr*ck (Sorry, I know this is a family website)
Manny is a moron
Zimmer is just hungry
Karim is an avid Air Supply fan
Jeff Nelson reminds me of John Rocker
The leaves are turning, the series is tied 2-2 and pivotal Game 5 is ~4 hours
away... it doesn't get much better than this!

Posted by David at 02:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

So much to say..so many things to comment on...so much happened today...brain overloading...words can't be typed fast enough...

...Ok...I am calm...relaxed...breathing....but this was a joke...and the local media is spinning EVERYTHING to make the Sox seem totally innocent...Pedro's pitch just was off mark...Karim Garcia is a bastard...Don Zimmer is a raging bull...a Red Sox employee had EVERY right to wave a Cowboy Out flag in the Yankees face...Manny was almost hit by that pitch and did NOT over react...Garcia tried to KILL Walker...ugh...

...this game was everything I thought it would be and everything it should have been.

Posted by David at 11:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

<b>8:20PM</b>
When the umpire calls strikes, he looks like he is picking his side for a dodge ball game. "You! With the Nike headband and Tennis Camp T! My side!"

Posted by David at 08:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My father always told me to go down swinging. "Never get caught looking at a third strike" he would say. "If it's close, swing, you don't want to get an out by looking at a pitch". So why, WHY can't the Oakland Chokers do that. Two, two outs looking at a pitch. Ugh. Oh well, nothing to do about it now. The Sox got some great calls and terrible plays by the Athletics to win the series. Next stop: New York.

Posted by David at 08:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm not joking, I think I just saw David Ortiz and Pedro Martinez kiss on the lips when Pedro came out of the game.

Posted by David at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One. Two. Three. Four. [picture me extending a finger for each number I count].

That is me counting off each second they left Pedro in too long.

Posted by David at 10:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Bottom 7. Eeeeaaaaahhhhh ooooooohhhhh. Man, that looked bad. And it was tough to watch during all 48 replays of it. Damon's going to be hurting tomorrow. Hope he's ok, all joking aside.

Posted by David at 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Top 6. I officially HATE Manny Ramirez. Pointing at your dug out. Not even half way to first base when your HR ball leaves the park. Yep, he is a [delete explitive]. That idiot has GOT to be joking. Great job Manny, you're a class act.

Posted by David at 09:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For those of you who don?t follow baseball, the Red Sox clinched a playoff spot last night by winning the wild card in the American League. To recap Major League Baseball, there are two leagues, the American League and National League, and each league has three divisions, East, Central and West. For the post season, or as some call it, the playoffs, each division has one winner. So in the American League, the East, Central and West each have a winner. In 1995, Major League Baseball started a ?wild card? winner, a team with the best record who did not win a division. The wild card can come from any division. Sometimes, the wild card winner has a better record than one of the division champions, an interesting reality of baseball.

Anyway, this year the American League division winners were as follows:

West ? Oakland because Seattle couldn?t buy a win in the last 6 weeks of the season
Central ? Minnesota because KC blew a 20-0 start and the White Sox couldn?t beat Minnesota the last two weeks of the season.
East ? Yankees of course.

So that left the wild card slot open. Well, as you can predict from the title of this entry, the Red Sox won the wild card last night after beating Baltimore. A couple of things.

- ?HOO!! HOO!! ALL ABOARD!!? That is the sound of the Red Sox bandwagon leaving the station. All fans who jumped off in May, come on back. It?s about to leave the station.

- After the game last night, one drunken Red Sox fan (do I really need to describe a Red Sox fan as drunken, it's pretty much assumed) said this ?We won thuh wild cahd race!! Now we hahv three gahmes to win the divishuhn!! We cahn dooo it!!? When told that the Yankees won the AL East earlier in the week, the fan assaulted the reporter.

- After the last out in the game, the Sox celebrated like the Syosset Science Middle School Engineering Club winning Battle Bots. Give. Me. A. Break. And T-Shirts that say Wild Card winners??? HA. You have got to be joking. I know the Sox haven?t been in the post season since 99, but let?s settle down a little. They were on the field hoopin? and hollerin?, carrying on like they just won the World Series.

- Todd Jones, an idiot of a reliever who ticked off the Boston sports media with comments he made in his Sporting News column earlier this year said this last night, "But how could I not go out there and thank them? They were with us all year. There were times they could have shot us and they didn't? Wh..?? Hu..?? They could have shot you?? They WOULD have shot you Todd, any one of you, if they were allowed to bring guns into the stadium. This is Boston. You blow one lead, and buh bye. You win one in the 9th, and they still find something wrong.

- Not sure why last night's celebration surprised me. After all, this is the same town that had a parade and celebration when Colorado won the Stanley Cup, because a fan favorite left the Bruins to play there. This is the same town that had a parade in 1986 to celebrate LOSING the World Series. Maybe they?ll have a Wild Card parade ending at Government Center.

- Following the game last night, young Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein went against tradition in waiting until the season is over and announced the winner of the Thomas A. Yawkey Award for Red Sox team MVP, ?We?d like to present this year's team most valuable player award to the Seattle Mariners".

Posted by David at 09:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Last night after the game a couple of us had a friendly and mild natured debate about who is better, <a href="http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/bos/team/bos_player_bio.jsp?frame=mlb&playerid=114596" TARGET=_blank>Nomar</a> or <a href="http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/nyy/team/nyy_player_bio.jsp?frame=mlb&playerid=116539" TARGET=_blank>Jeter</a>, so I looked at some side by side comparisons (I have a spreadsheet if anyone wants it).

Totals are hard to read because Nomar, despite being older, has played fewer years in the majors. So I took averages per year and they pretty much are the same as the totals for major categories. My average per year is faulty because the first year of each career was only a few games, and this year is about two thirds done with Jeter only playing in 66 games with the shoulder injury. So I basically took the totals and for Jeter dived by 9 and Nomar by 8 (the total years each has been in the big leagues respectivelly). It is probably a few percentage points less than if you divided by total number of games played and came up with per game numbers.

If you like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0393057658/qid=1059500616/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/002-1255945-8157618?v=glance&s=books&n=507846" TARGET=_blank>Moneyball</a>, you'll like my comparison based on pure stats of the two players for major categories. This is simply my objective comparison. Numbers are as of today, July 29, 2003.

(total/per year).

<u><b>Games and at bats</b></u>. As you can image, Jeter has the advantage for totals as well as per year. No big deal, Nomar is a girl and gets hurt alot.

<u><b>Runs scored and total hits</b></u>. Jeter has more, total and per year. He is faster than the girl. Runs 889/99 for Jeter, 648/81 for Nomar. This is probably due to the fact that the rest of the Red Sox players stink. Jeter had three consecutive years of 200+ hits per year, Nomar has had one.

<u><b>Doubles and triples</b></u>. Nomar has more for each, total and per year. Doubles, its 265/33 vs 230/26. Triples, its 46/6 for Nomar, 40/4 for Jeter. Nomar's job is to hit doubles and triples, Jeter's job is to win champsionships.

<u><b>Home Runs</b></u>. Nomar has it here since he hits in a hitters park and his job in the line up is to hit bombs. Yankee stadium for right handed hitters is terrible for home runs. Nomar has 161/20 and Jeter has 123/14.

<u><b>RBIs</b></u>. Nomar has more. 634/79 to 593/66. He hits from an RBI producing spot (years in the 4 spot) in the lineup while Jeter hits in the number 2 spot.

<u><b>Walks</b></u>. As you can image, Jeter has more. He doesn't swing at pitches in the dirt or flying over the umpires head. 496/55 vs. 258/32. Pretty big difference. Nomar is an idiot.

<u><b>Strike Outs</b></u>. Jeter has more. 838/93 against Nomar's 365/46. Not a surprise either. Nomar makes contact all the time.

<u><b>Stolen Bases</b></u>. This is simply because the Sox are not a running team. In all seriousness, he would not have the numbers as Jeter but would be close if he were on a running team. 173/19 for Jeter, 76/10 for Nomar.

<u><b>On Base Percentage</b></u>. For anyone who is or has read Moneyball, or knows Billy Beane's approach to baseball, this is a huge number. Many feel this is an extremely important stat in baseball. Since Jeter has better numbers than Nomar, I agree. Jeters is .389 and Nomar's is .374.

<u><b>Slugging Percentage</b></u>. Who cares. Really. Total bases. We know the outcome of this since Nomar hits more home runs. Nomar is .561 and Jeter is .463.

<u><b>Batting Average</b></u>.This was closer than I thought. With Nomar winning a few batting titles, I thought it was much higher. He edges out Jeter with .327 verse .317.

<u><b>Fielding. </b></u>This might be off too because an error is a judgement call. If one fielder never gets close to a play, no error. But another fielder who has great range and gets to it, but makes a mistake, is penalized with an error. It's off but Jeter is slightly better with .973 versus .969 for Nomar. But from an arm point of view, Jeter has a much better arm than Nomar.

So that's based on pure stats. I have included additional 'intangible' categories.

<u><b>Hardware</b></u>. Jeter has four World Series Championship rings, Nomar has his High School class ring.

<u><b>Media</b></u>. Jeter is great with the media, talks to reporters, and is personable. Nomar is about as surly and grumpy as Kevin Arnold's father in the Wonder Years. While Jeter has been named the team captain, Nomar says this to reporters: ''I can't answer that question. It doesn't matter how I answer it. Somebody's going to perceive something. I don't wish to answer it. Whatever. 'Cuz it doesn't matter how I answer it, somebody's going to go out and write that he's not this or that. They're going to interpret anything they want." Well said Nomar, well said.

<u><b>Looks</b></u>. Professional baseball scouts look at a player to see if they have the 'look' or build of a baseball player. Jeter is 6' 3'' and is build like a ball player. Nomar looks like he should be walking out of the Little Peach with a handfull of scratch-off tickets and a pack of cigarettes.

<u><b>Fans</b></u>. People in Boston LOVE Nomar, but there is an undercurrent of doubt whether he wants to play here long term or go home. Jeter is a New Yorker through and through. I guess its hard to compare playing for the Yankees, whose goal every year is to win a championship, versus the Red Sox, whose goal every year is to not screw up (I originally had a different word in there ) too bad.

But that's just me.

Posted by David at 01:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

<a href="http://www.dobrindts.com/softball">Click here to get to my softball team info</a>. Nothing special - even the look and feel is different - but it works. We had our first game this past Monday. Last year, in the same league, we went 2-22. That is two wins, and twenty two loses. Oh yeah, it was bad. We had some 'problems' on the team and some 'incidents' throughout the year, but decided to forge ahead and try it again. We revamped, got rid of some dead wood, got some new guys, and are off to a running start.

The game Monday had us losing by a lot, then we took the lead into the top of the 7th (softball games only play 7 innings), gave up the tying run in the 7th, made a great play to get their go-ahead run out at the plate, then won the game with no outs in our last licks. Good times for all. We'll see how it goes.

Posted by David at 08:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

<a href="http://www.dobrindts.com/movabletype/main/archives/000108.html">Click here</a>

Posted by David at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Being a fan of the 26-time world champion NY Yankees, but living in the champion-starved city of Boston, I thought I would keep a running tab of what?s going on with the Red Sox. Things in NY have been surprisingly goofy so far this year (three weeks into spring training), but I am sure it will get much worse in Boston before long. So here is my running total of events. You can access this log by using the right column link, I will keep the log posted there. It will contain the facts and my interpretation of the facts.

<u><b>Feb 15.</b></u>

<i>Facts</i>: Pedro Martinez speaks to the media and says that he wants next year?s contract extension of $17.5 million by the end of spring training, even though the Sox contractually have until November, or else he will leave Boston after this season.

<i>My Interpretation</i>: Pedro Martinez knows he?s the best picture in baseball and wants the Sox to admit it by giving him a crazy amount of money for someone with a small frame and propensity for injury. He is a spoiled brat that is telling the Sox that if they don?t give him what he wants, he will prostitute himself out to the highest bidder and come back to haunt them.

<u><b>Feb. 18. </b></u>

<i>Facts</i>: Nomar keeps motoring away that he doesn?t like to talk to the media.

<i>My Interpretation</i>: Who freaking cares if he doesn?t talk to anyone ever again. Keep hitting, keep circling the ball when fielding, keep playing hard and don?t let the fact that you are gay bother you.

<u><b>Feb. 22. </b></u>

<i>Facts</i>: The Sox players attend a class on how to deal with the media.

<i>My Interpretation</i>: The Red Sox organization does not have the leadership or class outside the clubhouse to manage a critical part of being a professional athlete ? managing the media. They need some remedial class to tell them to answer tough questions with a smile because there just ain?t no way to avoid it.

<u><b>March 2. </b></u>

<i>Facts</i>: Kevin Millar doesn?t run to first after hitting a fly ball.

<i>My Interpretation</i>: This guy thought the ball was going foul, high winds blew it back into fair territory, it was the second game of spring training, and only in Boston do they make this out to be a big deal.

<u><b>April 1. </b></u>

<i>Facts</i>: The Red Sox lost their season opener in Tampa Bay when, after Pedro Martinez pitched a great game, two relievers in the 9th inning gave up 5 runs. You see, the Sox are not using a traditional closer to finish out games, instead opting with a committee of pitchers who will pitch based on the situation, how they are doing and a spin of the wheel.

From the Boston Globe.
<i>Call it what you will, but the concept of the Red Sox succeeding without an established closer went completely kaput last night in one of the worst possible scenarios - against the lowly Tampa Bay Devil Rays on the grand stage of Opening Day.

Giving rise to the darkest fears of the scheme's architects, two key members of the crew assigned to fill the closer's role - Alan Embree and Chad Fox - conspired to ruin a sensational start by Pedro Martinez by blowing a 4-1 lead in the ninth inning in a stunning 6-4 loss to the Rays before 34,391 at Tropicana Field.</i>
Also from a well known columnist with the Globe.
<i> ''There's a tendency for baseball fans to magnify things, but you grow out of it,'' Epstein said.

Easy for him to say. Unfortunately, most members of the Nation have not grown out of it. That's what makes them Red Sox fans. All they know at this hour is that the Sox are 0-1, the closer-by-committee system is a bust, and the sky is falling inside the Teflon roof of Tropicana Field.</i>
.

<i>My Interpretation</i>: I could not have penned a better opening day story. As we all know, one game is .6 of one percent of the baseball season, so in the grand scheme of things, this means very little. But not being a fan of using middle relievers to close games, and absolutely hating the Red Sox, I was skeptical about this approach. At the end of the season we might be saying that it worked great, but for now, Red Sox nation is recovering from a pretty bad closer hang-over.

<u><b>April 25. </b></u>

<i>Facts</i>: Relations between the Red Sox and the reporters who cover them grew so frayed yesterday that manager Grady Little convened a team meeting before the Rangers ran roughshod over his club. The outcome of the closed-door session, according to communications director Glenn Geffner, was the Sox agreed to continue speaking to reporters but planned to restrict their comments to baseball-related matters.

<i>My Interpretation</i>: The Sox beat up on JV squads Toronto, Baltimore and Tampa. Now they are entering a stretch with some good teams and start by fighting with the local media. Pedro saying he will never talk to the media as long as he is in Boston. Derek Lowe, right before he got lit up, complained that a Boston reporter looked at a bumper sticker in a teammate's locker. Maybe this team should take ?Media Relations 101?, let the reporters work in their favor, and play freakin? baseball.

<a href="http://www.dobrindts.com/movabletype/main/archives/000140.html">Click here for an update [Sept 26, 2003]. </a>

Posted by David at 03:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)