Live-Blogging the first game of the Mayor’s Cup

Home in time to see Tom Caron speaking with Jason Varitek and (sadly) Dan Shaugh nessy.  (Ooh now they are showing Tim Wakefield, Jon Lester and Josh Beckett golfing!)

The lineup for tonight’s game looks pretty interesting.  No Coco, Manny or JD – we get Wily Mo, David Murphy and Jacoby Ellsbury.

Here’s the lineup:

Julio Lugo, SS
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Jason Varitek, C
Mike Lowell, 3B
Wily Mo Pena, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Murphy, LF
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF

Pitcher: Curt Schilling

I know I am a giant geek…but I’m pretty darned excited knowing in five minutes I’ll be hearing Don and Jerry calling a game…even if it is a meaningless game!

Since it’s the first live blog of the new season, I’ll go over it for new folks and those who forgot…I’m lazy;
you’ll have to scroll down to see the latest entries and I’ll save as
often as possible, but definitely at the end of each half inning.  In the beginning, I didn’t give much play by play, but I’ll try to improve on that tonight and as the season goes on.

7:05 – Schill is on the mound and, honestly, he does look a bit bigger than he has.  All the weight jokes and such still annoy me.  What are you going to do?

7:08 – Luis Castillo fouls off the first pitch and watches the second go by.  0-2.  Third pitch is a little wide and the fourth goes to Lugo who throws Castillo out. 

7:10 – Jason Tyner pops up the first pitch he sees and there are already two outs.

7:11 – Joe Mauer hits one right to Youk, Schilling covers first and the top of the first is over.

Brief pause while I bask in some real baseball.

7:14 – Matt Garza is pitching for the Twins.  First pitch and Lugo grounds out. 

7:15 – Give me a Youuuuk!

7:16 – 2-2 count on Youkilis.  And then he grounds into out number dos.

7:17 – Big Papi comes to the plate and Mauer gives him a ‘hello’ pat on the butt.  The camera pulls back and you can see that City of Palms Park is FILLED. Papi has a 1-1 count on him.

7:18 – A Jason Varitek sighting in the on-deck circle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

7:18b – Big Papi strikes out with a HUGE swing…no score at the end of one.

7:20 – Ooh…Rondell White ‘rips’ one to center field…Tina Cervasio is telling us that Jon Lester will pitch a minor league "B" game on Monday morning.  May I say WOO-HOO?  Thank you.

7:23 – Ah, it’s only the first game and I already got distracted…there are two outs and I have no idea how they came about…(OOh Mike Timlin in the dugout!!! – see how easily I’m distracted?)

7:25 – "Harvey" gets a hit up the middle.  Remy tells me we remember him from Kansas City.  Luis Rodriguez makes the third out to Youk.  No score going to the bottom of the second.

(The five year-old niece to me just now…"I love baseball, I just hate to watch it!"  Oh, she’ll learn.)

7:28 – Curt’s pitching line:  2 innings, 2 hits, 19 pitches – 15 for strikes.

7:28b – And here comes the Captain with a long out to right.

7:30 – MIKE LOWELL! MIKE LOWELL! MIKE LOWELL!!!!!  (He’s up is all…he hasn’t done anything yet…)

7:30b – Who is the Matsuzaka they keep talking about?

7:31 – "Harvey" practically dives into the stands to get Mike Lowell out.

7:31b – Wily Mo is up and the first pitch to him is in the dirt.  2-0 count right now.  They haven’t mentioned it, but he (Wily Mo) looks a little thinner (not a LOT, but a LITTLE).

7:32 – Wily Mo hits it right to third and gets thrown out.  Looks like Schilling IS done for the night.

7:34 – And we have a Joel Pineiro sighting on the mound!

7:35 – And Joel Pineiro gives up a lead-off single to Jason Bartlett.  WTG, as the kids say.

7:36 – But he gets the next dude out, so I guess that’s okay. 🙂

7:37 – Pedroia gets the man out at first, but that brings Bartlett to second with two outs.

7:38 – Julio Lugo turns a routine third out into a single for Joe Mauer.  Niiiiice.  He has 65 errors in the past 3 seasons.  Sweeet.

7:40 – Rondell White laughs at Lugo by getting a base hit, knocking in the first run of the game.  Say thanks to Julio, folks.

7:40 – Well, Lugo got the out at second…end of three, 1-0 Twins.

7:42 – Scott Baker is now pitching for the Twins.  I can hear hundreds of people asking "who?".

7:43 – Dustin Pedroia is up…23 pounds lighter (is that possible?  was he chubby last year?).  I can hear Lauren screaming from Dover as Dustin knocks the ball into center field.

7:45 – David Murphy also gets a hit.  Nice to see the kids getting the job done.  Here comes cute little Jacoby (who the Globe and other places insist on continually calling Jacob).

7:47 – Jacoby goes down looking.  Freeze-frame, baby.  Here comes Julio Lugo.  If this was the regular season I’d be saying "make up for the mess-up, baby"…but we’ll give him a little rope tonight.  🙂

7:48 – Hey, Julio just knocked in the first run for the Red Sox…good job, Julio, good job!

7:50 – Another shot of Timlin – this time next to Wakefield and behind Francona…oh my little heart…

7:50b – Youk strikes out and Big Papi is up again.  I just remembered that I have friends at this game tonight.  I hope they’re enjoying this!  I’m pretty sure they are!

7:52 – Even in a spring training game, the shift is on…and it doesn’t work!  Big Papi on first and another run scores!

7:53 – And we have another viewing of the Captain (with two outs).

7:54 – "Hey peanuts!!!" I can hear.  What a great sound.  Sadly, the Captain strikes out again.  2-1 Sox at the end of three.

7:56 – Jason Varitek is sitting for the night and Alberto Castillo is now behind the plate.  He’s catching for my new boy, Brendan Donnelly.  As long as he doesn’t talk about women, I’m good with Brendan.

7:57 – Brendan strikes out out LeCroix (sp?) on three pitches and catches him looking.  That’s always impressive.

7:58 – Hey, Harvey’s first name is Ken!  Good information to have.  Ken hits the ball right to Julio and there is another out because Julio got it to first this time.

8:00 – 1-2-3 inning for Brendan.  Nicely done.

8:01 – OOH Tina Cervasio is interviewing Jason in the dugout!!!!  Of course, the game is going on and I have no idea what Mike Lowell is doing…I mean, I love me some Captain but, HELLO there is a game on…and Mr Double is up…Jason smiled as the camera left him.  Seems like he’s been in a much better mood this pre-season.  A little less serious.  Whatever works.

8:03 – I see Mike Lowell walking back to the dugout and assume he just struck out.  But Don and Jerry are talking about Curt so who the hell knows?

8:03b – Wily Mo hit a single into center…and Jerry is still babbling about Curt.  Ah, meaningless games…here comes Pedroia…

8:05 – A batter and a half and Don and Jerry are still talking about the pitchers.  3-1 count on Pedroia.  You remember Pedroia, Don and Jerry?  He’s the guy up at bat right now.  Hello?  Is this thing on?

8:06 – Hey Donnie O noticed that Pedroia walked.

8:06b – David Murphy is up.  I believe the sistahs saw his first major league hit (or maybe his first hit at Fenway?) over the Labor Day weekend…but I don’t remember.  I’ll have to research it later.

8:07 – Two on , one out and Murphy hits it to Rodriguez, but it’s a  hot potato and Pedroia can hustle, so Murphy is 2 for 2 and loaded the bases with Jacoby up again.

8:08 – Jacoby seems a little attitudey to me.  Maybe that’s good.  It’ll be better if he actually gets a hit.

8:09 – Jacoby smashes the ball over Castillo’s glove, knocking in two runs.  4-1 Red Sox.  Nice way to shut me up, Jacoby.  (Baker is leaving the game…commercial break to switch pitchers)

Random picture of Bronson because he pitched an inning today.  🙂

8:11 – Sox have four runs, seven hits and an error.

8:12 – Jason Miller is in for the Twins and he’s pitching to Julio Lugo.

8:15 – Jacoby just stole second base.  Okay…I heart him.  Men on second and third as Lugo strikes out.  (Julio needs a cheeseburger…I’m just sayin’.)

8:15 – How cool is it to hear "Yoouk"?  So good.  So good. So good.

8:17 – Youk makes the third out but I’m too impressed with the ‘kids" to really care.  🙂

8:20 – We have a Batshit sighting!!  Julian Tavarez is on the mound (and he throws behind Bartlett…huh?)

8:21 – I have no idea who is in our infield but the just made the first out.

8:21b – Wily Mo is being interviewed by Tina Cervasio.  I don’t have a bloody clue what he’s saying but I still want to pinch his cheeks.

8:22 – Tavarez gives up a single as I read that Wally Szczerbiak is going in for season-ending surgery.  Bummer.

8:23 – One on, one out.  Let’s go Julian…WOO that one was a BIT outside.

8:24 – Ah, it’s time to talk about the ‘boo-birds’ from last season…I guess any time is the right time.

8:25 – Tyner hits one into right field.  First and third, one out with Joe Mauer up.

8:27 – Joe Mauer just tied it up with a homer that landed IN the chain-link fence.  Julian is reverting to his 2006 reliever-form.  (Okay, that’s harsh…it’s one game…)

8:27b – Tavarez gets the next guy out and we switch to Curt’s ‘press conference’ where he is a sitting billboard (hat and t-shirt) for what I’m assuming is his new company.  Can you say "poor taste", Curt?

8:29 – Sox just threw a guy out at second but I have no idea who on either end because we’re watching CURT SCHILLING TALK!!

8:30 – I just looked it up, it IS his company "38studios.com".  I think I’m going to puke.

8:31 – Curt is talking about Daisuke.  I’m thisclose to sticking a fork in my ear to pop out my eardrums…

8:31b – Game is on again…Curt is still talking…

8:32 – Welcome to my live blog…where I blog Curt Schilling’s PRE SEASON press conference because NESN thinks we’re all sitting here not caring about what is going on in the game.

8:33
– Luis Jimenez is up for the Red Sox.  And Curt is still talking.  So basically Don and Jerry are getting paid for nothing right now.

8:34 – These guys realize if they keep asking him questions, CURT WILL KEEP TALKING????

8:36 – Number 81 is up.  Number 81.  Guess who Don and Jerry are talking about?

8:36b – Hey number 81 is Chad Spann…all I know about him is he has a very nice southern family and he’s a good friend of Jon Lester’s.  There you go.

8:38 – And little Chad makes the final out.  Tied score still.  Annoying insurance commercials abound.

8:40 – Manny Delcarmen is on the mound (and he’s wearing number 17!  How did I miss that?)

8:42 – Manny throws one into the dirt.  1-1 on LeCroy – who hits one into the outfield.  Aw, Manny.

8:43 – Whatshisname catches the ball for the first out.  Of course, half the team on the field right now is whatshisname right now.

8:44 – Jerry Remy says to Don Orsillo "The question is "who just hit?".   And for the next hitter he asks, "Who’s this guy?".  Ah, February baseball!

8:46 – Chad Spann charges the ball and….well, mucks it up.  Error, baby boy.  But that’s all right because litle  Manny still gets out of the inning.

8:48 – Okay, who’s this skinny guy?  Alex Ochoa.  I didn’t know he was still playing…

8:51 Pedroia is out and Murphy is up.  Okay, bad, bad call.  Murphy looked safe to me and everyone who is booing at City of Palms Park.  4-4 end of six.

8:54 – Bobby Scales in in left field, Joe McEwing is at second and JC Romero is pitching.  Well, I know 2 out of 3 there…

8:55 – JC just threw two very pretty strikes.  I am mildly impressed.

8:56 – And Chad Spann makes another error.  HE’S definitely making an impression.  Of course, my heart breaks for the poor kid.  But I’m glad I’m not there so he couldn’t hear me groan.

8:58 – We have an out.  And we have Garrett Jones up.  Who the hell is number 71?  He’s our first basemen.

8:59 – Snap throw to first by Castillo, but number 71 doesn’t quite make the catch…Bailey, number 71 is Bailey.

8:59b – Romero strikes out Jones.  He’s wearing number 32 (Romero, not Jones).  Derek Lowe’s old number.  Did anyone wear 32 last year or in 2005?

9:00 – Denard Spann is up for the Twins.  That’s a good baseball name, eh?  Two outs, one on.

9:02 – Hey, Watkins gets picked off (I think it was Watkins)!   Freaking sweet.

9:05 – Jacoby Ellsbury is still in the game…he hits it to Watkins in left and we have one out in the seventh.

9:06 – Ed Rogers is up at bat.  Hi Ed.

9:08 – Sox go down in order.  Bottom of the 8th already?  Tied score. Oops, bottom of then 7th, what do I know?

9:10 – Remy and Orsillo are already in giggle fits.  It’s going to be a good year!

9:11 – Bryan Corey is pitching for the Sox.

9:13 – Corey has an out.  I have no idea how he got it because Remy and Orsillo are talking about the new rules and cracking up.

9:14 –  Hey, Corey caught LeCroy looking (I think I’ve spelled his name differently two or three times tonight…).  Remy is all for the new rules and speeding up baseball.

9:15 – Glenn Williams is up.  Hi Glenn.

9:16 – Goodbye Glenn…strikes out swinging.  Nice, clean inning Bryan.

9:18 – Ricky Barrett is pitching for the Twins.  Oh he’s like six.  He’s adorable.  I’m freaking old.

9:19 – Luis Jimenez has taken a couple of pitches.  2-1…and now he’s out (to left).

9:19b – Chad Spann is on deck…errors or no, he’s cute as a little button.  Have no idea who is up…he has a relatively low number, though.  Oh, it’s Alberto Castillo.  Hey.

9:21 – Remy is making up his own rules.  All revolving around games only going nine innings, tied or not.  Alberto hits a double with one out.  Nice job, Bert.  Al.  Whatever.

9:22 – Hitting the game-winner would be a nice way to ease your pain, Chad.  I’m just sayin’.

9:23 – It’s the 8th inning and the game is tied and I hear the "here we go Red Sox" chant.  I always preferred that to the "Let’s go Red Sox" chant.

9:24 – I’m amazed that Don has found a minute’s worth of things to discuss on DeMarlo Hale.  Nice.

9:24b – Chad has a 2-2 count and strikes out swinging. Here comes the ever-dangerous Alex Ochoa.

9:26 – Remy wrote a Wally book.  About his travels.  Oh, I guess WALLY wrote it.  It’s a children’s book.  Coolie.

9:26b – "Ochoa is gone and so are the Red Sox in the 8th".  4-4 going into the ninth.

9:30 – Luis Rodriguez leads off the ninth with a double off a guy named "Runelvys (Hernandez)".

9:32 – Wild pitch puts Rodriguez on third.  Man.

9:33 – Catches some Twin looking.  1 out, man on third.  Let’s go, Runelvys!

9:34 – Alex Ochoa throws Rodriguez out for home after catching out #2…double play, baby!!!

Still tied going into the bottom of the ninth.

9:37 – Alex Ochoa has the biggest, brightest smile!  🙂

9:37b – Joe McEwing is up…come on, Joe…or not.

9:38 – Bobby Scales, baby, it’s up to you.

9:39 – Hey, Bobby, a walk is as good as a home run…just ask Tim McCarver.

9:40 – Some kid named Kerry Robinson is up…

9:40b – …and said kid strikes out swinging.

9:41 – Two outs, man on first and Ed Rogers is up.  I smell a walk-off…

9:43 – Or a groundout.  Extra innings, baby!

9:44 – Number 97 is pitching for the Red Sox.  Chris Smith.  Welcome to the bigs.

9:46 – Ed Rogers throws a bullet to first for the first out.

9:47 – Alex Ochoa catches out number two…he’s still smiling.  He is seemingly the happiest guy in the park right now.  🙂

9:46 – Smith throws a change-up, much to the surprise, and pleasure of the RemDawg.

9:48 – Smith strikes this guy out and we go into the bottom of the tenth.  Nice inning 97.

9:50 – Number 71 (Oh that’s Bailey!) almost hits a home run…but, as we all know, almost only counts in hand grenades and horseshoes.

9:52 – Luis Jimenez is up…come on, baby…hey, he got a single- yay!!

9:52b – Brandon Moss is a pinch-runner and they just got word from the press box that this is the last inning, regardless of what the score ends up being.  Man, this’ll mess up the whole Mayor’s Cup thing, eh?  (Sarcasm, yes.)

9:55 – Wild pitch…Moss on second.  Nice running, Brandon.  One out, man on second, 3-2 count to Castillo…

9:56 – Castillo strikes out looking…Chad Spann is up.  Come on, baby, erase those errors.

9:57 – Chad, you can’t erase errors with an 0-2 count.

9:57 – Spann strikes out swinging and the game is over at 4-4.

Man, that was anticlimactic, wasn’t it?

Hey, thanks for stopping by folks!  Better luck next time!  🙂

A baseball game at 7:05!!!

That’s what we get tomorrow (Wednesday) night!

If I make it out of work by 6pm, I should be home in time to live blog.  Not sure how many folks want to read a spring training game live blog, but I’m telling you I’m so sick of waiting for baseball, I’ll take a meaningless game at the end of February!  Even if I’m ‘talking’ to myself, so be it. I’ll more than likely be here tomorrow at 7pm with bells on!

Diane has some news over at her blog about the Direct TV/MLB deal.  My favorite part of the story Diane highlights is that the cable companies will now agree to house the Baseball Network.  Yay! 
(Just what I need, I know…)

Hey, if you’ve sent me an email over the past week and I haven’t responded, my apologies.  I’m trying to pare down my email addresses and am losing some emails in the process.  Hopefully by the end of the week I’ll have everything worked out.

Two of the sistahs are leaving for Ft Myers tomorrow (with another couple of sistahs and many more of my friends heading down Thursday and Friday) for some fun in the sun (along with the Springing for a Cure dinner and Auction).  Check out KellyJ’s blog for information on her ‘reports from the fort’ for WORC-FM radio in Worcester while she’s down there!

Today’s pic was lifted from Yahoo! and was taken last week.  I figured it was time for a picture of someone who wasn’t a Matsuzaka or Ramirez!  🙂 *

Take care, folks.

(*that’s Brendan Donnelly, for those who don’t recognize him)

Hey, let’s replay the game where Matt Clement got hit in the head!

It’s Monday night and there is no Bruins game on, which means we get "Walk Off Sox" on NESN.  Tonight’s game?  The Sox versus the Devil Rays from 2005 where the Sox win after Matt Clement gets hit in the head with a Carl Crawford line drive. 

Now, technically, this isn’t a ‘walk-off’ game.  It happened in Florida.  It’s an ‘extra innings win’.  But that’s nitpicking.  It actually was a good game.  I listed it at number five in a post I brilliantly titled "The Five Best things about 2005", so I can understand what NESN was thinking, wanting to reshow it.  (Although, ironically, this is also the game when Don Orsillo and  Jerry Remy began talking about the "Manny wants to be traded" rumors that got started by a Tom Verducci piece – timely, no?)

So I’m watching the first hour of this and then it’s on to "24" (Maybe.  I just might dvr "24" and watch it later).

In more Manny-related news, I had a very interesting email conversation with Gordon Edes today.  I won’t beat a dead horse and get into specifics, but suffice it to say that, unlike his contemporaries Mr. Shaughnessy and Ms. MacMullan, Mr. Edes seems to take the opinions and concerns of the fans pretty seriously.  Serious enough to respond with well-though out, meaningful ideas instead of a pat "it’s only baseball’ or "let’s agree to disagree".  I might not agree with everything Edes has had to say about Manny lately, but at least he’s respectful enough to discuss it.

The issue for me was the relaying of an  ‘incident’ between MacMullan and Manny this morning.  As Edes reported it:

Boston Globe columnist Jackie MacMullan was leaning near Manny Ramirez’s locker when he arrived this morning.

“Can you give me a little space please?,” Ramirez said sharply to MacMullan.

Now, here’s the same interaction as reported by the Associated Press:

"Please move," he told a reporter politely. "I need some space."  (Interestingly enough, the AP has removed this entire part of the story from the afternoon/evening versions of the piece.)

There is quite the difference between saying something "sharply" and saying something "politely", no?  Edes told me that he relayed the story the way MacMullan told it to him (which brings up another issue of Edes reporting things as if he’s witnessing them first person and then, in two instances today, telling me that they were told to him by someone else).  In a late-afternoon chat, MacMullan, apparently, reiterated that Manny wasn’t polite (I’ve yet to read the transcript).  She did relay one piece of information that Edes left out (or wasn’t told).  Next to MacMullan was Dan Shaughnessy.  So if, in fact, MacMullan’s version is true and the AP’s version is cleaned up, one can understand if Manny was ‘sharp’.  I truly have a very difficult time imagining Manny speaking ‘sharply’ to anyone.  But what do I know, I wasn’t there.

(Trot Nixon just got hurt at his at-bat.  I had forgotten that.  Adam Hyzdu is batting for him.  Oh how we  miss you ‘what-nuts’ – as he strikes out…)

It is becoming very obvious that many in the Boston sports media absolutely hate the fact that the fans can ‘forgive’ Manny’s ‘transgressions’.  I’m pretty sure if you ask any Red Sox fan about Manny, ALL of them will tell you that at one time or another one of Manny’s ‘Mannyisms’ have irritated them.  But it seems more fans just look at it and say "In the long run, as long as he performs, who cares?".  That isn’t to say that there aren’t fans out there who want to wash their hands of Ramirez…but those fans aren’t as numerous as the Boston sports writers would like – and it’s blatant in a lot of the writings of late.

(Matt Clement just got hit in the head.  I have to admit, I got the same sick feeling I did the first time it happened.  This is basically the point where I ‘adopted’ Clement as one of the players I try not to pick on.  I like him, I think he works hard and I want nothing more than to see him shut up all the naysayers and pitch well – at some point – this year.  Thankfully, NESN didn’t show this in it’s entirety.  He got hit and now he’s on the stretcher…the time in between those two moments seemed to be unending in real time.  Oh, yay, Chad Bradford is on the mound…and I flash back to those feelings of nausea I had throughout the rest of this game.)

I don’t expect sports writers to be homers.  I don’t expect them to not point out shortcomings in the players.  What I do expect is a little bit of decorum.  Today, WBZs Jonny Miller asked Manny’s agents questions I felt crossed the line.  In one he referred to Manny as a 12 year-old and in another he referred to Manny as the agents’ "meal ticket".  Both unnecessary, personal shots.  Obviously Miller has a problem with Manny, those questions were biting, but it’s Manny so the writers feel like everything is fair game.

The writers whined today that Manny didn’t talk to them last year.  Not entirely true, when he showed up at Spring Training last year, he spoke with the media.  And then he didn’t for the rest of the season. 

If you ask me, they get what they deserve from Manny.  I just wish other players would follow his lead.  Sports writers, especially those covering Boston sports, seem to have this ‘entitled’ attitude, thinking they should be privy to every aspect of a player’s life.  I don’t agree.  I might not be a member of the local media, but I have plenty of ‘contacts’ and have had personal information passed along to me many times (as a matter of fact, thanks to one of the sistahs with some inside info, I knew Manny was in Ft Myers last night).  Most of it I choose not to write about because, even as a lowly blogger, I don’t think it’s my place to pass along gossip or just write something for the sake of grinding an axe.

There are so many stories they could focus on.  But they choose to focus on the negative.  Whether it is CHB bashing Curt or whichever player earns his ire this week, or the incessant Manny-bashing.

When are they going to get that the fans have had enough?  I’d rather watch a rerun of a two year-old baseball game than read what most of these folks have to write.

(pictures lifted from Yahoo and the Boston Herald because I realized this post is quite long and figured you all could use something to break it up!)

I Hope I Die Before I Get Old

These pictures are of Mike Timlin goofing around this week.  This quote is Mike Timlin subtly telling the media that beating to death the fact that he is going to be 41 on March 10th is starting to get a bit annoying.

Asked if he and the other members of the 40-plus
fraternity–Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield–might form a club within a club, with
their own T-shirts and the like, said, "No, that would be a clique, and this
team has no cliques.”

So noted, Mr. Timlin.  🙂

Based on the accounts from people who were there and who know what is going on, including Mike, he tweaked his back and after some rest he should be fine.  I’ll worry about it when I need to worried about it.  I just wish the media would back off the ‘age’ issue a little bit.  Plenty of players play past forty.  Mike had a bit of an "off" season last year, what with his training getting thrown off by the WBC and then his going on the disabled list, but that was LAST year.

Do I think Timlin can bounce back from his lousy season?  Sure.  Do I think he’s a viable candidate for closer?  If he’s healthy, I certainly do.  Wednesday will be the first time (unless this is more than a tweak) Mike pitches this pre-season.  He’s scheduled to go into the game after Schilling.  If all goes according to MY plan, I’ll be live-blogging the game and we can all see together how he looks.

I’m not naive enough to not understand that his age could certainly become an issue, but I’d prefer to see him pitch before I start worrying about that.  What I really don’t get is the insistence of the media to throw his age in his face every chance they get.  They did it last year as well. 

He’s ‘old’ and more prone to breaking down than the younger guys (Matt Clement is 32, I’m just sayin’)…we get it writers, we get it.  We’ll be seeing him on the cover of AARP Magazine any time now.  (Is there an AARP Magazine?  I’m only 2 1/2 years younger than Mike…I’ll need to know this soon!)

Oh well…at least they’re focusing on a player whose name doesn’t begin with Daisuke or Curt.

Happy Birthday, Mike Lowell!

We get a two-fer today and an actual GOOD article by Tony Massarotti about Mike on his birthday.

With this great quote by Tito:

“There are a lot of guys
on the team (I like and regularly talk to), but there’s no hiding the
fact that this guy is kind of a pro’s pro. That’s the way he does
things.”

Mike quickly became a fan favorite last season, so to see him taking a leadership role in the clubhouse just gives us another reason to love him!

Hope you had a great day, Mike!

Happy 30th Birthday to Bronson!

And here’s hoping we get many more pictures like this one.

Yowza.

Godspeed Dave

Thanks to Mark and Kellia for alerting us to the sad news that Dave Cadwell passed away last month.  I’m still stunned by the news.  Dave’s was the only Yankee blog I ever linked to on this page.  🙂  He would email me photos of his family AND his Yankees and we’d have email discussions about our teams.  He emailed me any time I crabbed on here about not feeling well or when I mentioned something lousy that was going on in my life.  He even mentioned me in his MLB Radio interview as an example of how Yankees and Red Sox fans can get along.  He was a sweet man who always spoke lovingly to me of his family.  I’ll miss his music videos that he would send (sometimes to tweak me…they’d be Yankees-related) and I’ll miss his blog as well.  His presence here made the whole place a lot nicer.  It’s a sad day.  I hope his fiancee, Michele, knows that the thoughts, prayers and love of many people are with her.

We made plans to ‘someday’ see a Yankees/Sox game at Fenway.  I’m so sorry that won’t ever happen now.

Dave’s fiancee Michele has set up a memorial page here.

God bless, Dave and thanks for being a friend!

(I stole and edited this photo of Dave from one of his photo albums at his blog)

Crabcakes

I basically started and ended my day falling down – literally.  SO I’m sore and cranky and hearing about Dennis Johnson dying didn’t do anything to improve my mood.  Back in the day, I was as passionate about the Celtics as I am the Red Sox (thank you, Rick Pitino, for sucking the fun out of basketball for me).  DJ wasn’t my ‘absolute favorite’ out of that group (I was always partial to Kevin McHale) but I ‘loved’ him like I did the rest of the team.  He played his heart out, was great with the fans, and was one of the few people I ever saw make Larry Bird smile.  He WAS my sister’s favorite player.  And she’s bumming tonight.  My thoughts and prayers are with the Johnson family and everyone who loved him.  Thanks for all the great memories, DJ!

So here I am in bed, with the laptop and a major headache that just won’t go away, and scanning the baseball blogs and news stories of the day.

I think it was very nice of Curt Schilling to force the spotlight away from Manny for the day, don’t you?

All I have to say about Curt is he’s old and people don’t trust that his body is going to hold out.  Do I want him on the team?  Sure do.  Do I understand why the FO didn’t commit for another year?  Sure do.  Do I wish that he would shut his yap and just prepare for the season?  Hell yeah.  Hopefully this is the last we’ll hear of this from Curt until something is resolved.  I don’t dig it when players try to negotiate through the media.  Not at all.

And how exciting a day where so many got their knickers in a twist (that one’s for Tom Miles!) over Manny not going to a car auction?  The whole thing smelled fishy from the beginning.  If you went to the website of the auction, they don’t mention Manny anywhere.  Yet stories are being spread all across the internet, from reputable news sources, that Manny will be there.  Manny’s agent says he won’t be there, the team says he won’t be there but the people running it say he will.

So let’s go with them.  Why would Manny’s rep or the team know what they’re talking about, right?

I bore easily.  And in less than I week I’m sick to death of Daisuke Matsuzaka, Manny Ramirez and Curt Schilling.  Way to go sports media.  Thanks a bunch.

I’m crashing.  Sistahs weekend starting tomorrow so I have to be well-rested for it!

Take care, folks!

Did you all hear???

Manny won’t be showing up to spring training camp until around March 1st!*

.

I’m disappointed that this hasn’t received any coverage by the sports media.

;

*The date, by the way, allowed under the Collective Bargaining Agreement

Hey look, it’s Mike Lowell!

You know, as opposed to Daisuke Matsuzaka?  Guess he showed up for Spring Training too!

Wow.  So did Mike Timlin.  Go figure.  I wonder if anyone told the reporters yet?

Actually, speaking of which, there is a video of a pretty decent interview with Jon Lester here.  Don’t let the fact that Bob Lobel is conducting it scare you away!  (Again, thanks for the heads up, "P"!)

And in non-Red Sox related news, Bronson is the sole player on the cover of this year’s Cincinnati Reds media guide.  I’m sure Aaron Harang is very happy for him!
Oh and I just checked out NESN’s broadcast schedule for the Spring Training games.  I’m so jonesing for baseball that I’m pretty sure I’m going to liveblog the first game of the year (February 28 v the Minnesota Twins).  it’s a 7pm game so I’m planning to do it unless something comes up.

David Ortiz and JD Drew also didn’t show up yesterday in Ft Myers.  Should we start bashing them too?  (I can’t wait for Manny to show up just to stymie the sports writers.  What will they write about then?)

Edited to add a special shout-out to Steve. He’s the husband of one of the sistahs (Cruiser) and a friend and he’s headed to Dana Farber this morning to, hopefully, get some good news!  We’re all thinking about you Steve and pulling for you!  (See you on Friday!)

Have a great day, folks!