Just need to be sure that Cattledog doesn't outdo us Red Sox fans. Excuse me, World Series Champion Red Sox fans. So I'm starting the Sox link for the year. (Sorry William 1865)I was BstonFaninDC last year, but I've moved back to my beloved Beantown (in time to see them win it all) so I've changed my name.

Just so you hear it here first - I think Theo's got one more big trade in him before Spring Training. A Bronson Arroyo, Hanley Ramirez Kevin Youkilis for someone like Halliday in Toronto. Gives the Bluejays some cheap talent and gives us another top of the rotation starter. Without it, I worry that our pitching staff is just too fragile. We look a little like last year's Yankees (God forbid). We'll see in the coming months.

I love my Pats - here's to them winning it all again (forget it Philly fans, without TO, you're done), but I can't wait for spring training to start.

The Ball has been put on display at Fenway.

I don't think that the rotation is that bad. After all, Pedro and Lowe came off of pretty sub-par years for them. In signing Clement and Wells, they'll be able to replace those two. Especially with that offense behind them. Not only that, as long as Wade Miller can keep healthy, he is going to be awesome for the Sox.

Not only that, they're bullpen is looking even better than last year. You have nothing to worry about.

as an (until recently) a lifelong suffering red sox fan who lived and inevitably died with the sox each year, it's hard for me to get as excited now. everest has been climbed...climbing it again is still an accomplishment, but...

that said, the sox will be in the thick of things again...the pitching will be fine if schilling is healthy. the new guys are all capable pitchers.

Good Lord. The bloody sock!

I was very disappointed to hear of the Kyle- Farnsworth-to-Detroit trade this AM. He needs work but the best lookin' reliever in MLB. Damn.

Did anyone else read the Globe's interview with Dodger Derek Lowe today? I had tears welling in my eyes when he spoke about he and Tim Wakefield unable to leave the mound when it was all over. Wakefield in tears. Redeeemed after his tragic loss against "them" the previous year.

Realistically, I think we're in for a few years of reconfiguration before the Sox make another run for the championship... and I'll enjoy every minute.

Yes, I agree Everest has been climbed-- but we haven't REPEATED as champs since like 1915.

Interesting...

Fall 1918: Boston wins the World Series. Spring 1919: no Stanley Cup awarded

Fall 2004: Boston wins the World Series. Spring 2005: no Stanley Cup awarded

With apologies to BPT and his fellow Cornell fans, IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!

Joe

I must agree with the sentiments expressed in today's Jock Talk. I'm a Sox fan and I'm already sick of the Sox-Yankees sniping. It's becoming akin to a cross-country drive with a load of kids in the back seat. Shuuuuuut Uuuuuuup!

Even David Wells, who wasn't even there alst year, has joined in the Yankee bashing. He apparently badmouthed Steinbrenner, Cashman and A Rod.

And now the Red Sox are debating whether or not to hand out the World Series rings on Opening Day against the Yanks. That is traditionally when they would be handed out, but some in the Red Sox organization think it might be crass. I agree with Tony Kornheiser when he said they should give out 1/3 Opening Day, 1/3 the second game and 1/3 the series finale!

This may not be the place to post a story about the Bosox first baseman going on "Queer Eye," but that's what Kevin Millar seems about to do!

http://www.billjanovitz.com/hotstove/1105370479_7072.jpg

http://www.billjanovitz.com/hotstove/creamer.jpg

hot sox GM rockin'!

Theo Trivia: I heard on the news last night that Theo's grandfather wrote the screenplay for "Casablanca".

Johnny Damon has written a book: Idiot: Beating "The Curse" and Enjoying the Game of Life.

There are selected single seats and obstructed views and the like available for games at Fenway Park (those that aren't sold out, like vs. the Yankees) -- so by careful picking and choosing among games, I managed to get a ticket in the loge box section (second-lowest level) behind home plate for a game on September 29th against the Blue Jays! All I need is for the weather to be nice and I'll finally get to see a game at Fenway.

"The Boston Red Sox tomorrow will announce that the team is staying put in Fenway Park, baseball's oldest and smallest stadium."
Today's Boston Globe

here is an article about a few of the red sox appearing on queer eye for the straight guy. doesn't sound like they enjoying the experience much, especially Johnny Damon:

"Were you happy with the look they gave you? Who came out the best?"

Damon: I looked pretty gay, as in, what gay guys would wear. I was in striped white pants and a striped purple shirt. Nothing I would pick if I saw it! But it looked all right. I'm one of the few who could probably get by wearing it.

Red Sox interview about Queer Eye for the Staight Guy

Opening April 8th, Fever Pitch is the Jimmy Fallon-Drew Barrymore rom-com where Fallon plays a rabid Red Sox fan.

Francona taken to New York hospital with chest pains.

Considering Francona's history with blood clots, he was extremely smart to take himself to the hospital as a precaution. He has now been moved to a hospital in Boston for overnight observation. I'd joke that if Rivera keeps blowing saves, Joe Torre may join Francona, but it would be in questionable taste.

~Adam

Red Sox got their rings today. It was awesome to see Bill Russell, Bobby Orr, Richard Seymour and Tedy Bruschi throwing out the first pitches. Tedy looked like the usual fun loving guy. No signs he had a mild stroke. Maybe he will play this year after all.

[ April 11, 2005, 01:05 PM: Message edited by: TommyC84 ]

Barring an amazing, even miraculous, recovery, I see no way Bruschi can play football again after having had a stroke, no matter how mild. But getting back on topic...I understand that Francona was set to be back on the bench today. It's about time, seeing has how the Red Sox have fallen to last place in his absence.

I liked what King Kaufman had to say (as I pretty much always do) about last night's brief encounter between Gary Sheffield and a poorly-coordinated Red Sox fan:



[ April 18, 2005, 06:47 PM: Message edited by: redsoxbreath ]

My friend Roy and I attended the game against the D-Rays at Fenway tonight (W 6-2 Clement), and noted that new signs have been posted all along the inside of the low right field wall, threatening ejection for any fan who interferes with a ball in play.

The difference in fan behavior from games past was quite amazing -- NOBODY reached over the wall. Quite a change for the better, IMO, since fan interference has always been treated very casually at Fenway; I've never seen anyone ejected short of intentionally running onto the field. Even fans who've fallen onto the field while grabbing for foul balls have been allowed to return to their seats. It's about time management took the matter seriously.

Btw, Manny Ramirez was responsible for all six Red Sox RBI tonight, with a two-run homer in the third and a grand slam in the fourth -- a "Manny granny"? "Manny slammy"? "Moon Over My Manny"?

[ April 18, 2005, 06:48 PM: Message edited by: redsoxbreath ]

Punishment doled out for fans involved in the Fenway Melee (The Right Field Ruckus? The Sheffield Scuffle?):

The fan who reached into the field of play has had his season tickets revoked for the 2005 season while the fan who dumped a beer on Sheffield is prohibited from buying tickets this year.


Patrons Penalized Properly?

Okay, I'll stop now!

Sorry I ever started...

A pair of Red Sox wives ran today's Boston Marathon. The women's winner was Catherine Ndereba, a 4-time winner, in 2:25:13.

About Gary Sheffield vs Probably Drunk Guy* (former Red Sox season ticket holder Chris House), I know I said something like "Get over it", but stupid stuff like this is fun to waste time with, so I take it back.

The best comment I've read was from the Sons of Sam Horn discussion board:

* © copyright Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy at ESPN.com

Manny Ramirez became the 39th player to hit 400 home runs, doing so in the fifth fewest number of at bats (after McGwire, Ruth, Killebrew, and Thome).

From the Associated Press:

"Afghan President Hamid Karzai won't get his wish to throw out the first pitch at Fenway Park.

'The logistics were just too complicated to make it happen,' Boston Red Sox spokesman Glenn Geffner said.

Karzai, who will speak at Boston University's commencement today, had asked to throw out the first pitch during Saturday's game between the Red Sox and Atlanta Braves at the beginning of his four-day visit to the United States.

'He does know about baseball and also supports it,' said Ashraf Haidari, a spokesman for the Afghan embassy in Washington. He said security concerns made a first pitch difficult."

Maybe he could have joined the Red Sox in getting a Queer Eye makeover??

~Adam

Not that our overall season thus far has been anything to write home about, but this afternoon the Red Sox came back with a 27-hit, 17-1 win over the home team at the stadium we affectionately refer to as The Toilet.

What's that smell? Oh, must be Steinbrenner soiling himself...

How are Red Sox fans and Boston-area sports fans liking Torontonian Hazel Mae? Lately, a lot of the Boston games (on NESN) have been shown on TV in Toronto and, of course, there's Hazel Mae, former morning anchor for Sportnet and host of J-zone show about the Blue Jays, now reporting on the Red Sox and hosting SportsDesk on the New England Sports Network.

She's ok, seeems to know her stuff, asks well-informed questions when she does an interview. Personally I prefer looking at men, but hey, that's just me...

I'm going to Friday and Saturday's home games versus the Angels. Been doing TONS of renovations on my apartment in preparation for the wife's return from her vacation. Told her, point blank, "I need some downtime. I'm going to see the Sox this weekend and crashing for the night Friday."

So, to get back to the topic at hand: Hazel. HOT. Maybe the wife can come join me in Beantown for a menage-et-trois???

Maybe spending time with the so-called Fab Five on "Queer Eye..." has done something to Kevin Millar. Reports out of St. Louis, where the Red Sox are engaged in an interleague series, say that he took batting practice in nothing but his compression shorts, due to the unbearable humidity in the city. I'll let others search far and wide for photographic evidence.

~Adam

Red Sox new closer: Curt Schilling?

Schilling's currently on a rehab assignment with the AAA PawSox, while Keith Foulke takes some time off to figure out why he's been sucking serious wind lately. Apparently Theo Epstein has proposed that Schilling take the Red Sox closer's role for the time being, and Curt likes the idea. I do too -- what a concept!

[ July 06, 2005, 04:33 PM: Message edited by: redsoxbreath ]

If he can warm up quickly enough and come into games on a daily basis as needed, it couldn't hurt. It's an interesting thought.

Especially since the starting rotation and the bullpen have been doing a reasonable job without Schilling, so he can be spared for late-inning duty and not put a lot of stress on his body. Plus as analyst Dennis Eckersley pointed out on tonight's pre-game show, Schilling will love all the drama and attention that come with the closer's job.

Just heard that Foulke's been placed on the 15-day DL.

[ July 06, 2005, 09:54 PM: Message edited by: redsoxbreath ]

http://x.go.com/cgi/x.pl?goto=http://sport...-072724&srvc=sz

eek!




One of my favorite pitchers ever. I hope he's really ok and doesn't suffer any aftereffects from this.

It was the most frightening thing I've seen happen in a baseball game I was watching at the time. I got hit in the head like that umpiring 7 and 8 year old machine pitch and that hurt like hell. I can't imagine the pain that Clement suffered. Hopefully he'll recover soon!

Hopefully he didn't feel much pain from the shock of it all....Reports are that he never lost consciousness, is completely alert, and knows what happened....so hopefully he comes out of it all with just a bad bruise that will head.

Awesome game today. GK was all over the outfield, made a catch worth watching tonight on SportsCenter. Manny is "back", was welcomed with a standing O and hit the game-winning RBI, which gave the Red Sox a three-game sweep of the Twins. The Sox held a 2.5 game lead in the AL East. Love and happiness spread throughout Red Sox Nation.

PS- Clement's fine, still in the rotation.

[ July 31, 2005, 05:01 PM: Message edited by: redsoxbreath ]

Curt Schilling will start on Thursday at Kansas City. Was it worth it to keep him out of the rotation this long? He wasn't consistent out of the bullpen, though he wasn't horrible -- and now that leaves a hole in the pen again.

Just saw on TV that tonight's game at Fenway was delayed over an hour to give them extra time to fix the field after damage to the grass caused by two Rolling Stones concerts this week! Maybe they should have scheduled a little more time between the last concert and the game?

(Jimmy Buffett had a concert last night, and another one tomorrow, at Citizens Bank Park but whatever damage he causes won't be a problem because the Phils have another week after this one on the road.)

Aaaack Thppp Thpppp Aaaack

Here I go posting on the red team's thread, but there's this article I find rather creepy, and where else could I post it?

Sculptor Throws a Curve With Slugger's Head (registration may be required)

All together now: Eeeeewww! Let the man rest in peace!

Sports have always been a bastion of religion. For all of my career coaches or pastors, sometimes priests would lead the entire team in prayer before games.

I would much rather have them praying and trying to improve themselves than taking steroids, coke, heroin, or beating up their girlfriends and getting into fights in nightclubs.

Give them some credit.

Hell, I have prayed for the Sox for 35 years and just had those prayers answered last year.

R

Posted by ITJock (Member # 1353) on September 23, 2005, 05:57 AM:

ESPN.com news services:

"Boston Red Sox right-hander Keith Foulke will not pitch again this season, ESPN's Peter Gammons has confirmed.

The struggling reliever returned to Boston on Thursday for an examination on his left knee, another setback for the World Series champions as they scramble to stay in the playoff race.

A day after falling out of first place in the AL East for the first time since July 18, the Red Sox sent Foulke home from the road trip to see team physician Thomas Gill. A source familiar with his injury, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the AP that Foulke is headed for surgery.

A Red Sox source contacted by the AP said no decision has been made on whether Foulke will return this season.

Foulke was a star of Boston's championship run last year, nailing down all four victories in the World Series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals. But he's struggled most of this season, posting a 5-5 record and a 5.91 ERA while saving just 15 of 19 opportunities.

Foulke had arthroscopic surgery on July 7 to repair cartilage in his left knee. He missed two months while recovering and hasn't pitched in a save situation since returning from the disabled list Sept. 1."

Sigh... It's September...

It's not looking good for Boston. They could now lose the division and the wild card. The 2004 champs not even in the playoffs in 2005? Yikes. Just keep it together 'til next weekend when I'm up there. I want those games to be meaningful. wink

Keep the faith, man. They'll be back! (With no help from He Who, out for the season with a torn Achilles'. )

[ September 23, 2005, 07:40 PM: Message edited by: fenwayguy ]