Archive for category Boston Red Sox

Congratulations to #14

Earlier today a great bit of news was released to the world by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

James Edward Rice, #14 on the Boston Red Sox for the entirely of his 16 seasons in Major League baseball was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

This was Jim’s final year of standard eligibility, if he had not been voted in with the 76.4% vote he received, then his only option to get into the Hall of Fame would have been via the Veterans Committee or buying a ticket at the door.

Also elected this year were Ricky Henderson(94.8%), and Joe Gordan(Veteran’s Committee).

I am happy to see that one of the great Red Sox players from the past has finally been recognized the way he was meant to be for his play over the years. I also look forward to meeting and congratulating him in person while at camp in February.

I also hope to be able to get a photo of me with both Jim and Yaz.

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Ahhh… Tradition…

The first Spring Training games took place today and Boston did it’s traditional games against local colleges, they opened up against BC and Northeastern today, and not surprisingly won both games, both shutouts, 24-0 and 15-0.

They were split squad games with some of the main players on both teams.

The Red Sox performed well and some good outings at the plate by some of the minor league guys, like Jeff Corsaletti(OF) and George Kottaras(C). Hopefully Kottaras will be consistent and be a good replacement for Varitek who I am guessing is going to be retiring in a year or two, since he turns 36 in a little over a month, his knees probably can’t hold up much longer, and well, his hitting just isn’t there anymore, great behind the plate, just not while standing at the plate.

Yes, they were playing against “only college” kids but I don’t see that as a big deal, you still need to hit the ball and swing well to do it right. Also, a large number of walks certainly helped which shows good patience on the part of the veterans who didn’t take the game too lightly.

Beckett picked up where he left off last year as well, only pitched 2 innings, but had 4 strikeouts, 1 fly out and 1 ground out with no walks. He spoke out after the game and was not too happy with his curveball, but hey, only the first game of spring training so plenty of time for things to shake out, and as we all know, Josh is one of his own harshest critics which is actually a really good thing as long as he only strives to improve instead of getting down on himself from a bad outing.

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BRUUUUUUUCCCCCCEEEEEE

FORT MYERS —The Boston Red Sox reached into their past Monday, appointing former lefthander Bruce Hurst to the position of special instructor for player development.

Hurst will serve as both a player evaluator and on-field pitching instructor in the Red Sox minor league system. He will be traveling to Boston’s farm clubs during the season and participate in spring training.

“We are very pleased that Bruce is returning to the Red Sox organization in a new role,” Red Sox director of player development Mike Hazen said. “He brings a great deal of experience and pitching knowledge to this position, and he will be a great asset to our younger players.”

Hurst compiled a 145-113 record and a 3.92 ERA in 379 career games with the Red Sox, San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, and Texas Rangers. He posted 11 or more victories in 10 straight seasons from 1983-92, winning a career high 18 games with Boston in 1988.

Which reminds me of the song I am listening to now…. Lyrics below

You got me running going out of my mind
You got me thinking me that I’m wasting my time

Don’t bring me down
No, no, no, no, no, ooh ooh
I’ll tell you once more before I get off the floor
Don’t bring me down

You want to stay out with your fancy friends
I’m telling you it’s gotta be the end

Don’t bring me down
No, no, no, no, no, ooh ooh
I’ll tell you once more before I get off the floor
Don’t bring me down

Don’t bring me down, Bruce
Don’t bring me down, Bruce
Don’t bring me down, Bruce
Don’t bring me down

What happenned to the girl I used to know
You let your mind out somewhere down the road

Don’t bring me down
No, no, no, no, no, ooh ooh
I’ll tell you once more before I get off the floor
Don’t bring me down

You’re always talkin’ ’bout your crazy nights
One of these days you’re gonna get it right

Don’t bring me down
No, no, no, no, no, ooh ooh
I’ll tell you once more before I get off the floor
Don’t bring me down

Don’t bring me down, Bruce
Don’t bring me down, Bruce
Don’t bring me down, Bruce
Don’t bring me down

You’re looking good just like a snake in the grass
One of these days you’re gonna break your glass

Don’t bring me down
No no, no no, no no, no no, no, ooh ooh
I’ll tell you once more before I get off the floor
Don’t bring me down

You got got me shaking, got me running away
You got me crawling up to you every day

Don’t bring me down
No, no, no, no, no, ooh ooh
I’ll tell you once more before I get off the floor
Don’t bring me down

Down, down, down, down, down
I’ll tell you once more before I get off the floor
Don’t bring me down….

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Well I am certainly surprised at the signing!

Certainly not someone I had thought was even on the Red Sox radar this off-season.

It was announced today that they have signed Bartolo Colon to a minor league contract, so we will probably see him at some point this year depending how his shoulder works out.

This is a good signing by the Sox since it is for low low money, and if he is able to recover from his shoulder problems from last year, he can be a beast on the mound. It was only 3 years ago that he won 21 games and the American League Cy Young award.

He has an overall pretty good career, but has fallen off with injuries the last couple of years.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed, this could make our starting pitching lineup a complete monster.

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Manny Being…. Yogi?

Quote from Manny Ramirez at Spring Training in response to the question,

“What’s it like to be here on time?”

“Hey, I am always on time, I may be late 2 years in a row, but I am always on time”

Huh?!?

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Sox Headed to the White House

Next week, 2/27/08 the Red Sox are headed to the White House to meet up with President Bush.  Sadly I think they may give him yet another jersey like they did in 2004….

Well, on the bright side, the Sox won the World Series twice to be able to give the same president a jersey.

Look on the bright side, less than a year from now we will definitely have a new president.

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Oh Manny… Why? Why did you do it?

Manny has now switched agents to that one guy who we all know and love!!!

Scot Boras, the dregs of the agent world and one of the people who we can definitely all blame for the outrageous salaries that we see sports stars making nowadays, a media whore like no other(except maybe Peyton Manning, but at least his is advertising something other than himself).

Also, not sure how to take Manny’s comments about the team picking up his options for ’09 and ’10. I know Manny has said he wants to play for a long time and be like Julio Franco(who is 50 this year and still looking to play) and I am not sure if the Sox should pick up his 20 million or not, it’s an iffy situation from my point of view. He is still a great player, and he is still worth having on a team, but is he worth 20 million? and would it be worth it to the team to over pay him with that 20 million to keep him off another team? Deep questions….

From Extra Bases on Boston.com:
Manny Ramirez is hiring Scott Boras as his agent, a friend of the Red Sox left fielder told SI.com Friday.

Sox GM Theo Epstein confirmed by email to SI.com that Ramirez informed him of the change within the last few days, according to the report.

It is unclear at the moment what the change means for the Red Sox. Boston has a $20 million team option on Ramirez for each of the next two seasons. Ramirez told reporters Thursday he would not demand the Sox pick up his options.

“They’re the ones who’ve got my options, it’s up to them to say, ‘OK, we’re going to pay,'” Ramírez said. “It’s not up to me to go into the office and demand a four-year deal, or whatever. I’m going to come here to play the game, finish my year. If they want me to come back, I’ll come back.

“I want to finish my career here, but it’s up to them. If that doesn’t happen, hey, I’ll go and play somewhere else. I know I can still play and what else can I say? It’s up to them. I’m not the one who writes the checks.”

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Things Not Too Hot For Trot

Ex-Red Sox player Trot Nixon has agreed to a minor league contract with Arizona Diamondbacks.

I guess the big payday wasn’t out there for him…

But feel free to bookmark this… I give him 2, maybe 3 years and he is back on the Sox as a bench player for backup and defense. Why you ask? Fans love him and the Sox will be able to get him for crazy cheap money at that point.

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What is that Smell?

What is that smell? You know you know it….

It’s the smell of fresh cut grass, the smell of hot dogs, cotton candy, pretzels, mustard(even if gross), popcorn and all those other smells, most of them good and some of them bad.

It’s springtime, which means baseball spring training!!!

RED SOX ARE IN THE BUILDING!!!!

or in the park as the case may technically be.

We come into Spring Training as a set of fans with high hopes for our team, they won the World Series last year for the 2nd time in 4 seasons, which for this team is something quite amazing. I personally thank the ownership for this, they have certainly put an emphasis on winning, not just on competing, and they actually appear to care about their investment, unlike the past ownership group of the Yawkeys and the Yawkey Trust.

I feel good about the chances for the team this year, with a high percentage of the team coming back, and a lot of young stars who look poised and hungry to win instead of laying back and enjoying the success they have had early.

Some high points so far:
– Manny on time to Spring Training
– Big Papi’s knee is in good shape, a little sore but no major problems
– Pitching staff is in good shape

Some low points so far:
– Schilling’s shoulder, pretty sure he is gonna be done for the season, but who knows?
– Coco Crisp, I like Coco, he is a walking WebGem producer, and while I wish there was a way to keep him and Jacoby, but  I don;t see that as viable, unless he really picks up the offense, he will likely go in trade for a good utility player, hopefully one with a strong bat.

I feel confident and I look forward to seeing how everything pans out, and hopefully we will see great things from this team this year.

I am hoping for no sophmore slump from Pedroia and an awesome rookie year from Jacoby Ellsbury.

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Collective Sigh of Relief!!!

Collective Sigh of Relief!!!

Yes, you heard it when the news came out, all of the Red Sox fans around our great country and the world let out a giant sign of relief when it was announced that Eric Gagne has declined the offer of arbitration from the Boston Red Sox!!!

How excited are you about this? Isn’t this just the best news you could ever hope for?!?!

On the downside, due to his horrendous performances with the Red Sox this past year, he was downgraded from a Type A to a Type B Free agent, so what this means to the Red Sox is that instead of getting 2 Draft Picks next year, they only get 1 “sandwich pick” which is a pick in round 1A which takes place in between the regular round 1 and round 2. If he had remained a Type A they would have gotten a First Round pick as well as a sandwich pick.

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