About Pineda and Pine Tar

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Last night’s game was just another reminder of how as much as I love baseball, sometimes it frustrates the hell out of me.

For the second time this season against the Red Sox, Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda was found to have a foreign substance on his person, presumably to help him pitch. (It was not the second time this season he was caught by cameras with the pine tar. His outing in Toronto was also enhanced by the sticky substance.)

After the first time against the Sox I felt pretty ‘meh’ about it. None of the players complained, good for him he got away with something. But last night irritated me on a few different levels. So let’s give thanks to Pineda for causing my first rant of the 2014 season.

Before the game John Farrell responded to a question about pine tar by saying “I’m sure I would expect that, if it’s used, it’s more discreet than the last time.”

Yeah, not so much.

I don’t have any idea if I should be mad that Pineda uses pine tar. Apparently everyone uses it and no one in the game usually cares. What annoys me is how everyone blows it off (including and especially the players) as if it isn’t a big deal when it is, regardless of how well it is hidden, against MLB’s rules.  This isn’t stealing signs. This is something specifically against the rules. If you want the rule changed, you’re in a union, go talk to them. But the rule is there and if the only time it’s going to be enforced is when it’s so bloody obvious my legally blind father with a 10 year-old NON HD television can see it then I think that’s pretty ridiculous.

I’m also annoyed by the way the entire Yankees team was only too happy to throw Pineda under the bus the moment the game was over and the questions came out. Sure, he’s an adult, makes his own decisions, blah, blah, blah. And it was pointed out to me last night that dugouts between innings aren’t exactly libraries so it’s possible his manager, the coaches, his teammates and everyone else in there didn’t notice the giant, messy blob on his neck before he took the field in the second inning.  But he’s done this at least two other times this season already. The media was all over it yesterday before the game. I absolutely do not believe that no one in the Yankees organization thought to maybe talk to this kid before the game and say “Gee, the spotlight is going to be on you, maybe cut the shit for one night, huh?”  And if they did and he ignored them you would think that the reaction from, oh let’s say Joe Girardi would have been a lot more angry than it was. Girardi responded like it was no big deal (although in fairness Brian Cashman seemed a bit more miffed – probably just that his player was stupid enough to ‘hide’ it on such an obvious place).

The word ‘mistake’ has been bandied about quite a bit regarding this incident. No. It wasn’t a mistake. It was a purposeful decision. A stupid one, mind you I won’t argue with anyone that what Pineda did was ridiculously stupid, but a specific decision and not a  mistake nonetheless.

As with most of my rants, I know I’m all over the place here. There’s a part of me that sympathizes with Pineda. He’s 25, English isn’t his first language, and he’s pitching for a team that, at least in theory, offers zero room for mistakes. Who knows what kind of pressure he’s feeling or what kind of support he’s getting? And what kind of mixed messages has he received? I mean,hell, if I can’t figure out why I’m supposed to be mad about pitchers using pine tar (given I keep getting told everyone does it), how is he supposed to know if he’s doing something wrong?  He knows it’s “wrong” in the sense that it’s against MLB rules but as long as you conceal it well it seems to not be “wrong” among his fellow players, coaches and managers. So in a sense it’s easy to see why he thought he could get away with it.

The players need to clean up their own mess. It sounds a bit hypocritical to hear John Farrell and  John Lackey and others essentially saying the only reason they brought the umpires into it was because of how blatant it was. Suddenly we have to defend the integrity of the game (or our own egos) just because everyone can see it? So if CC is hiding something between his fingers tonight and none of us ever get a look at it, does that make him better than Pineda because he hides his cheating better?* How’s this work? Do players get the rulebook and note the asterisks next to some of rules? “Pay no attention to the red asterisked rules, fellas. Those are just there for show.”

*In case a CC fan happens to read this, I’m not accusing him of cheating. But if everyone else is right, apparently chances are he probably is.

In an ESPN.com article about this debacle, Ian O’Connor amusingly wonders if this will “sink” the Yankees season. But that isn’t the most entertaining thing about the piece. Normally, I avoid the comments but in some instances the schadenfreude is too much to pass up.  My favorite comment came from someone named Joseph who wrote (and this is all cut and pasted, typos and/or misspellings aren’t mine):

I’m very disapointed in Cashman at the moment. i think he is letting the yankees get pushed around again. He shouldn’t have come out defiant. He should have denounced Farrell’s ploy for what it was: gamesmenship. He should have promised retalalition. Not say your sorry because Pineda’s only crime it seems was to try and get a grip of the baseball. The rule was designed to prevent people from doctoring the baseball not prevent a pitcher from being able to grip the ball on a cold night because that’s a safety hazard. Let’s be honest here John Farrel doesn’t give a darn about the rule. He just cares about giving his team an edge whether it is in the rules or not. Somebody should ask him if he thinks that Jon Lester should be suspended. Or if he thinks Clay Bucholtz should be suspended? My guess is that he’ll say no even though there is actual video proof that these guys cheated. If you suspend Pineda you have to suspend those other pitchers as well. Otherwise leave the kid alone.

Aside from old Joseph not knowing how to spell Farrell or Buchholz, he misses the point of why Pineda will be suspended and Lester and Buchholz only got spoken about in the media. No one on the opposing team called out Lester or Buchholz during the game (I almost wish they had. I mean I’d be interested to see how the umps reacted to the stuff on Clay’s arm and in Crabby’s glove.) which means there were no reprimands.  Which brings me to another thing that makes no sense to me in MLB…why is it on the teams to police themselves? Why didn’t one of the umps approach the mound (or the Yankees dugout) and say “Yo, what up with the neck gunk?” It seems to me that MLB is as accepting of this practice as the players are – as long as the pitchers aren’t obvious enough to get caught.

The mixed message is annoying. If I’m going to be outraged, dammit, tell me why I should be!

I’d rather the media focus on how amazing the Red Sox pitching was last night – especially John Lackey. For schadenfreude, how about Derek Jeter’s absolutely horrendous defense or Mark Teixeira’s Golden Sombrero?  All interesting baseball stories.  Instead we get to listen to the likes of Karl Ravech say things like “There is no joy in Pinetarville” (he really said that – and then went on to say that John Farrell couldn’t really enjoy beating the Yankees last night because he knows his pitchers “cheat” too). And tonight we’ll be subjected to discussions about the length of Pineda’s suspension (10 games, equalling 2 starts – the iron hammer of Joe Torre seems a little weak) and concerns that the Red Sox opened a can of worms that their pitchers will have to pay for.

I mean hell, I’ve written almost 1500 words about the damn subject and I don’t even really know how I feel about it. I don’t like cheaters and I’m a bit of a good two-shoes when it comes to rules…so in theory I should be mad that Pineda pulled this again. But really I just wonder, if it really is being done by all of them, why more pitchers don’t get caught.

I’ll say this much, the theater of John Farrell coming out of the dugout, the umpire practically strip searching Michael Pineda and Joe Girardi almost dismantling an ESPN dugout camera wouldn’t have been quite as amusing had the Red Sox lost last night’s game.  So I thank John Lackey for being outstanding and really wish the rest of it would just go away.

The Longer the Better

Screen grab lifted from Nate at Thin Line Between Clever and Stupid and used without permission.

I will never tire of watching the Red Sox beat the Yankees…especially when it’s as much of a slugfest as last night’s game turned out to be. 18 hits and 14 runs in this game. That, to me, is baseball. And guess what? When you get a total of 18 hits and 14 runs in a game, that takes a little while to play. Someone should tell that to Mark Teixeira*.

“It’s brutal,” said Teixeira, the Yankees’ first baseman. “I can’t stand playing a nine-inning game in four hours. It’s not baseball. I don’t even know how to describe it. If I was a fan, why would I want to come watch people sitting around and talking back and forth, going to the mound, 2-0 sliders in the dirt? Four-hour games can’t be fun for a fan, either.”

If I’m being fair (or at least honest) I can sympathize with the players who have to play the marathon games that Red Sox/Yankees games almost always turn into (although I don’t consider a four-hour game THAT much of a marathon).  And the fans who attend the games, they get my understanding if they start to watch the clock while they’re at the park.  (I’m a pedestrian who often relies on public transportation and/or a cab to get me home after a game.  The idea of fighting off hoards of people in Kenmore Square for a cab or a spot on the subway platform any time past 11pm doesn’t appeal to me at all.)

But what I don’t get, what I will never get, is the average person who claims to be a huge baseball fan complaining that baseball goes on too long.  (I also don’t get people who make money off of baseball complaining that there is too much of it.)  I love baseball.  As I’ve often mentioned, even though I live in the Red Sox market, I get the Extra Innings package through Comcast because I genuinely enjoy watching the game, Red Sox or not, and spend a lot of my free time in the summer doing so.  I have been one of those people sitting in Fenway at 10:30 and eyeing the scoreboard and the clock wondering if I’ll be able to get my bus or if I’m going to have to scrap that plan and take a cab home (as a matter of fact, transportation home is one of the reasons I haven’t been to many games this year.  Many generous people have offered but if the game DOES go long and I have to take a cab it can get a bit expensive and I’m not in a position right now to pull that off very often).  But I’ve never been at a game where I honestly thought “Gee, I wish this game was shorter” just on general principle.  If you are a baseball fan, and I’m guessing you are if you’re reading me, you already know what kind of game baseball is.   You’ve decided to patronize a game with no clock…I find complaining about how long it takes to play ridiculous.

And it’s annoying when it’s the running commentary through an entire series.  It seems more writers complain than fans but a lot of the fans are joining in as well and I don’t understand it.  Most networks block off three hours for a game…is a four hour game really that big a difference?  When I’m watching a Yankees/Red Sox game, I block off the four hours, not expecting the game to end any earlier than 11pm (when it’s a 7pm start).  If you’re enjoying what you watch, why do you want it to end sooner?

For the record, last night’s game lasted 3 hours and sixteen minutes.

Ultimately, here’s my problem with people who complain about how long the game lasts…give me an alternative.  Are you saying that you don’t want the batters to get a lot of hits?  Are you saying that patient hitters taking walks isn’t part of your game?  Do you not want to watch batters foul off pitch after pitch in an attempt to frustrate the pitcher into making a mistake that turns into a hit or a walk?  Teixeira complains about trips to the mound and people sitting around talking back and forth (huh?)…in my opinion it is the commercial breaks that suck the life out of the timing of a baseball game, not the actual action on the field.

The Red Sox and Yankees games will always go on long because the Yankees and the Red Sox are very good teams.  Asking for shorter games is asking for games that aren’t as good as most of these games are.  There are so many things people can genuinely complain about when it comes to Major League Baseball…I see no reason to complain that there is too much baseball.

*I reluctantly link to Tyler Kepner.  The idea that he writes for the New York Times yet  tweets things like  this:

Home run onto Landsdowne St., fastball to the back. Stay classy.

astounds me and shows me how unprofessional a professional can be.

It's a thin line

At the very least, this man deserves a bit of a rest (and a stiff drink!). Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com and used with permission.

May I just tell you how much I hate this weekend?

I don’t hate it solely because the Red Sox won’t be in the post-season.  You win some, you lose some and I can deal with that fine.  And it isn’t that I don’t like the playoffs.  I do.  Even when the Sox aren’t in them they are usually compelling and fun to watch.  Especially this year when there is really only one team I absolutely don’t want to see get past the first round.  It’s nice to have a bunch of teams to watch that you know you’ll enjoy watching.  I’m hoping for a Reds/Twins World Series but, really, as long as it doesn’t involve the Yankees, the World Series won’t be a disappointment for me this year.

The main reason I hate this weekend is because of the loss of every day baseball.  During the season, there is almost no weekday evening where I don’t spend the majority of it watching baseball.  If I’m home, pretty much from 7pm until at least midnight, there is a ballgame on somewhere in my vicinity thanks to the Extra Innings package.    I just love baseball and I want to watch as much as I can.  So marking the end of the regular season always makes me a bit melancholy.

There’s also the off-season to think about, which always gets me a bit emotional.  Players we’ve grown to love (or at least really want around) might not be coming back, so the last weekend of the season turns out to be a longer goodbye for some of us and the players than others.  I wonder if next season we’ll be witness to more dugout tomfoolery with Adrian Beltre and his head or if we’ll get to see Victor Martinez and his son playing on the Fenway grass.  I wonder if we’ll be clapping and singing to “Shipping Up to Boston” in the top of the ninth or if it’ll be “Strange Hold”  (is that even still Bard’s entrance music?).   Come December, I’ll be a lot more eager to find out the answers to these and other questions but right now I’m a little blue thinking about them.

As a gift to we fans who have stood by this team all season long, the baseball gods have given us a final weekend of baseball at home…against the Yankees.  Really, baseball gods?  We haven’t suffered enough?  Oh well.  The bad news is that along with my boys, my last visuals of Fenway this season will include the likes of Slappy, Captain Intangibles and freaking Mark Teixeira.  The good news is that the Red Sox could end up being the reason that the Yankees go into the playoffs on the dreaded (only by them) Wild Card instead of winning the division.  The thought of this gives me joy-filled goosebumps.

I think it’s fitting that the two pitchers I’ll be seeing (if the weather doesn’t mess things up) are Clay Buchholz and John Lackey.  Clay because he’s my guy in that rotation and Lackey because I feel like I’ve been one of his only supporters all season.  I know how he’s pitched and I still think, when that contract is over, we’ll have gotten more good than bad from  him.  So I’m excited for the pitching this weekend and I’m excited to be able to be there to say goodbye to Mike Lowell (although not excited about saying goodbye).  My hope is to shoot video of the tribute to share with folks but I can’t guarantee I’ll be in a good position to do it (nor can I guarantee my hands will be steady enough to shoot it!) but I promise I will at least make the attempt!

How is it possible that I’m dreading AND looking forward to this weekend?

I've watched this game three times already!

Welcome back! Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission.

Random thoughts:

*  Hitting a home run against the Yankees in their stadium to help pad the lead and ensure the team’s win has to be the best way to get your first Major League home run.  As Kelly O’Connor pointed out on Twitter:  It was such an amazing feat that the team didn’t even consider giving Ryan Kalish the rookie silent treatment.  He was greeted at the top of the dugout stairs by the Large Father with a bear hug.  It’s always great to see the Red Sox beat the Yankees but seeing the “kids” be a big part of the reason why they did makes it that much more fun.

*  Jacoby Ellsbury went all out, bouncing his body, including his ribs, off the outfield ground in a successful effort to catch a ball Lance Berkman drilled in the 8th inning.  He briefly grabbed his ribs and later said that it “didn’t help” them, but he did it and  he helped keep the game in check by doing so.  That anyone seriously thinks this guy is “soft” baffles me.

*  Mark Teixeira made, what Don Orsillo pointed out as, an impressive catch in the stands last night.  He reached about two rows in and snagged the foul ball.  The reason he made such a good catch?  The group of seats he leaned over had no one in them.  Had the Yankees filled the park, that catch wouldn’t have been made.  It occurs to me that we’re fortunate in Boston where they let you sit where you want at Fenway (short of the “special” areas above the park like the Pavilion or Monster seats) until someone comes to you and tells you that you’re in their seat.  (I bought an $8 standing room ticket this year and spent most of the game sitting in the field box seats).

*  It’s amazing how one win can give so many so much hope.  I’m still digging the pitching matchups and thinking today’s game will be the iffy one but I predict today will be the day John Lackey finally has his “good” day game!

*  Last night’s game was on the MLB Network.  Today’s game is on Fox at 4pm.  Tomorrow’s game is on ESPN at 8pm and Monday’s game is, again, on the MLB Network at 2pm.  While some might think the rivalry has cooled down, apparently it still brings in the big ratings nationally.  Thankfully, last night’s and Monday’s games can still be seen on NESN but for the weekend we’re stuck with the likes of McCarver, Buck and Morgan.  Be strong, Nation!

The sight of you with your head hung low

Joe Mauer at Fenway in 2008 (Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission)

Over the weekend I uttered a phrase that many have spoken when they feel a player is overrated, especially if that player is being considered for the MVP award.  “He isn’t even the MVP on his own team!”

Doesn’t take a psychic to guess that I was referring to Derek Jeter.  I was thoroughly convinced that somehow the writers getting the AL Cy Young and Manager of the Year awards right meant that the MVP was absolutely going to Jeter.  The idea of Mark Teixeira getting it had, honestly, never crossed my mind.  So I was doubly surprised when not only did the writers get it right by giving the award to Joe Mauer, but that they got it even more right by voting for Mark Teixeira over Jeter.

According to Kelly Thesier at mlb.com:

Mauer finished with 327 points, well ahead of Teixeira, who had 225, and Jeter, who had 193. Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who received the only other first-place vote, was fourth with 171 points.

Special shout-out to Keizo Konishi, the writer from the Seattle chapter of the BBWAA who had the temerity to give Miguel Cabrera his one first-place vote.  Every group needs their renegade, Keizo, and this year the BBWAA can look to you to keep the well-held belief that some members of the BBWAA barely follow the sport they cover.  Well done.

Mind you, I’m not saying that Mauer HAD to get the vote unanimously, but voting for Cabrera over any of the top three vote-getters is absolutely baffling to me.  Cabrera had a really good season, but not first-place MVP voting good (given his competition – yes, even I have to admit that Teixeira and Jeter were pretty damned impressive).   Going 0-11 at the end of the season in the White Sox series when the division was on the line…well I’m not sure that’s MVP-worthy right there.  You judge a player on his entire season but to be MVP of the league…well isn’t part of that coming up big when your team needs you?

You can wait all night, I'll never stop complaining

From Saturday’s New York Post. Tip of the hat to Surviving Grady for finding it first!

As I listen to the “Let’s Go Red Sox” chant ringing through CBP and I realize I’ll probably still be watching this game at midnight (it’s about twenty past ten as I start this) I figured why not write something tonight? But what to write about since the game is still ongoing?

How about the tremendously large yaps of the New York Yankees lately?

Where to begin? How about with Brian Bruney? (How many of you just said “Who’s Brian Bruney?” Exactly.) Bruney, while rehabbing, decided to opine about Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez after Friday’s Yankee win:

“Unbelievable, I’ve never seen anything like that,” Bruney told Ashmore. “I have, but in high school. Couldn’t have happened to a better guy on the mound, either. He’s got a tired act. I think that’s bad, but two years ago, when he lost the game…I don’t know if anybody saw it, I did. He was in Oakland and he was pitching for Anaheim, didn’t get a call, and so he was like complaining. The catcher threw it back and he just kind of did one of these (Bruney half-heartedly holds his arm out) and hit off his glove and bounced behind and the guy from third scored and they won the game. He gets what he deserves, man. I just don’t like watching the guy pitch. I think it’s embarrassing.”

Did I mention that Bruney is rehabbing in Trenton? Hasn’t played much this season, let alone has he faced K-Rod. Oh yeah, and there’s a player on his team who does the same kind of histrionics as K-Rod in the middle of games. Glass houses and all, jackass.

K-Rod had his own words for Bruney when told of what he said after today’s Mets win:

“He better keep his mouth shut and do his job and not worry about somebody else,” Rodriguez said. “If it came out from somebody big, I might pay attention to it. But somebody like that, it doesn’t bother me.”

That, my friends, is called being put in your place. But there’s more from K-Rod!

“Instead of sending a message through the paper, next time when he sees me at Citi Field come up to me and say it to my face. Don’t be sending a message through the media. I don’t even know who that guy is. Somewhere in Double-A? I believe he hasn’t even pitched one full season. He’s always been on the DL. That’s all I know right now.”

Wondering what got to Bruney? How about his manager being a jackass as well? Apparently, a day after Brad Penny hit A*Rod with a pitch, Joe decided he wanted to tell the world that Penny plunked him on purpose and should be punished.

“Penny’s control was pretty good. We hit [Jason] Bay [Tuesday]. I always feel if it’s intentional, [the pitcher] should be suspended. I didn’t care for him hitting him in that situation. That’s my opinion, I am not 100 percent sure.”

He might not have been 100% sure but that didn’t stop the Yankees from calling MLB and asking that Penny be suspended. I’m beginning to think that Girardi is at the end of his rope when it comes to the Red Sox and he’s just throwing shit against the wall to see what sticks.

In all fairness, I should post what Penny’s response was to Girardi’s accusation. Thanks to Adam Kilgore, I can do that right here:

“I don’t give two f—- what Joe Girardi says,” Penny said. “I’m coming inside. I don’t care. Anybody can say that. We can say that about the time they hit our guys. I’m just trying to pitch inside. Maybe he should worry about managing and not trying to be the commissioner.

“Why wouldn’t he say that the night before? Don’t wait a day, then say it. He should worry about managing and let the umpire crew do their job.”

Here is where I propose my undying admiration to Mr. Penny. Nothing like cutting to the chase, Brad. Well done.

But my favorite of all these outburst to the media comes from Mark Teixeira. You all remember Mark. Jerked around the Red Sox to get the Yankees to up their price, knowing all along that he wouldn’t be signing with Boston. The guy who practically begged Red Sox fans to boo him when he first showed up at Fenway in pinstripes. That guy. When the Red Sox swept the Yankees this week, John Henry tweeted (how did I have no idea Henry used Twitter? As I told Rob Bradford, finding his tweets was like Christmas in June!) a simple line: “the MT curse?”. When I read it, I laughed out loud. It was a joke and, I thought, a funny one. I understand why Mark Teixeira wouldn’t think it was funny but his response to it not only told us that but it told us a little more about Mark. I guess I’m disappointed to find out that he’s a big a doofus as he looks.

“How old is Mr. Henry?” Teixeira asked of Henry, who is 59. “There is no reason for me to get into any war of words with some 70-something-year-old man. It doesn’t make sense.” The Teixeira-Red Sox discord dates back to 1998 when Teixeira declined to sign with Boston out of high school. It continued this off-season when the Red Sox appeared to be the favorites to sign him before the Yankees swooped in.

“Everybody knows the Yankees paid the most,” Teixeira said. “This is a business. It was a family decision and a business decision. They can have their opinions — that’s fine. I made the best decision for me, and it’s worked out great.”

“You guys make that decision,” Teixeira said when describing his actions compared to Henry’s. “Whose reputation looks better?

Mark, really, you can say all that and then ask whose reputation looks better? Without giving it more than a second of thought I’m fairly certain that most anyone who reads all of the above will say “Not yours, sunshine”.

I’m thoroughly enjoying this new Yankee era. Gone are mystique and aura. Say hello to bellyacher and bore.

Say "forget it" just for spite

Only good vibes for the Crab Man tonight. (Photo taken by me in Baltimore – 2008.)

So I “hate” the Yankees, right? Sure, I suppose in the realm of baseball fandom you can use the word “hate”. I took immense pleasure out of the 22-4 drubbing the Indians put down last weekend and I am quite pleased whenever they lose. Heck, even when they were playing the Rays this year I wanted them to lose. So I suppose you can label me as a Yankees-Hater.

With that in mind, why is it that I’m not more charged up about this weekend? I even went to a few different Yankees message boards to read the Yankees fans trash talking the Red Sox and their fans and I came away from it feeling quite…meh.

I didn’t get riled up reading Yankees fans insulting Kevin Youkilis or David Ortiz. I just kind of laughed at the idea that it’s stupid to be concerned about a pitcher who consistently throws at the head of specific players (or playeR). But there was no fire in me. I wasn’t compelled to log in and write a mean-spirited response.

This has been happening for a few years now. I still don’t like the Yankees or a good portion of their fans (I actually do know some Yankees fans you wouldn’t feel the urge to boil in oil) but I guess the intimidation factor is gone for me. Hell, I follow Nick Swisher on Twitter and laugh at a lot of his stuff. (I think the reason there, though, is I still don’t consider Swisher really a Yankee. I feel like he’s wearing a costume when he plays and he’ll rip it off soon enough. I have no idea why I feel like that.) So when the Yankees come to town, or the Sox go to the Bronx, I’m not thinking “Ooh, the Sox HAVE to win these games because it’s the Yankees!”, I’m thinking, “I want the Sox to win these games. As a bonus, we get Yankee losses if they do. It’s win-win!”.

Leigh Teixeira has no idea what awaits her

Johnny Knoxville photo from EOnline.com

Let’s see.  Mark Teixeira gets an enormous contract from the New York Yankees.  Mark Teixeira is also, historically, a very slow starter.

Yankees fans are somewhat notorious for booing their high-paid players who don’t perform well on demand.

Yeah, April and May should be a blast for the Teixeiras.  I think the missus should stay away from the park until maybe June.

But, honestly, what did you expect him to say?  “We really wanted to play in Baltimore but what idiots would turn down what the Yankees offered?”?  No player would ever be that honest.

I watched a little of his interview with Hazel Mae on the MLB Network last night.  I lost count of how many times he mentioned that his sister lives in New Jersey.  It was his passive way of saying “See, it wasn’t about the money!  Jersey is close to New York!”.

So the Red Sox were never in it.  Will this shut up everyone bitching about how Theo couldn’t get it done?  Teixeira is where he wants to be.  At the very least, he’s where his wife wants him to be.  And even if he isn’t, it’s the store we’ll be beaten to death with in 2009.

Follow up to the last post.  In this article about Teixeira,  I found a line that made me laugh out loud:

They talked about family, routines, influential coaches and Teixeira’s assessment of the Yankees. The hours seemed to fly by, said Cashman, who marveled at the lessons Teixeira had absorbed from former teammates like Chipper Jones.

Mrs Teixeira should have told her husband to sign with a city that doesn’t have a Hooters in it.

…everybody has one!

I’d like to know why so many Boston sports writers (and Boston sports fans) are using the “If you say that the front office didn’t screw up you’re in denial” or “If you say you didn’t want Teixeira on your team you’re lying” arguments against any Red Sox fans who aren’t devastated that Mark Teixeira is in New York.

To me, this is akin to saying “If you don’t agree with my opinion, you’re stupid”. Way to connect with people. folks.

I could have taken or left Mark Teixeira. I know he’s a good player (although, I’d like to know when he became the best player in MLB? He’s not, folks. He really isn’t. So to the people who keep telling me I’m in denial or lying, I tell you to stop over-hyping this guy in the name of Sox bashing.) but I wasn’t champing at the bit to get him. Let’s see, we’ll move Youk back to third, find a team where we can ditch Lowell, carry the one…it just didn’t mean that much to me to get him. We were a healthy Josh Beckett away from the World Series this year – I don’t look at the Red Sox and think “Holy hell!!!! Theo hasn’t done ANYTHING this off-season, we’re DOOMED!!!!”. Good for you if you do but stop trying to drown me with your negativity.

Remember the off-season of 2003?  Sure you do.  Everyone and their brother had us signing Alex Rodriguez including, for a time, Alex Rodriguez, right?  Back then, I was a regularly posting member of the Red Sox Fan Forum over at redsox.com.  The place was abuzz for weeks with talk of getting ARod.  I forget the specifics, but wasn’t the plan back then to trade ARod for Manny Ramirez and then trade Nomar Garciaparra for Magglio Ordonez?   I HATED this idea, long before it all went south.  And there were many, MANY people willing to voice the same opinion over at redsox.com.  Then once everything fell through and Slappy ended up with the Yankees, from out of the woodwork came the people taunting those of us who didn’t care.  “Oh you have to say that to make  yourself feel better about your team screwing this up!” was a common refrain.  No, I said it because I didn’t want to lose Manny and Nomar for ARod and Magglio.  Don’t care now and didn’t care then if people thought I was choosing loyalty to players over improving the team (which, in a sense, I guess I was.  I just never liked ARod – never – and there are some players I never want to have to root for – he’s one of them).

Mark Teixeira isn’t one of them, though.  Never really had anything against him, but I like the way this team looks (for the most part.  Have I mentioned that we need a catcher?  I’d much prefer Theo sign a starting catcher right now.  Seems kind of an important piece of the team that is currently, well, MISSING right now.) and I didn’t see the need of signing a Teixeira just for the sake of doing so.  Wouldn’t have been too upset if they did (although the ultimate loss of Mike Lowell would have been greatly upsetting) but, again, really not devastated that they didn’t.

So the Sox didn’t get Teixeira and the Yankees did.  I’m not giving up tickets to the Red Sox games in protest, that’s for sure.  If anything, it’s nice to (once again) have a bit of a “bring it on” attitude in regard to the Yankees.  Rivalries are fun and the Steinbrenners just kicked it up a notch again.

But, seriously Theo, a catcher.  A catcher would be good.

Molasses to Rum

Photo from WBZ.com

I don’t know that I’ve ever read Brian MacPherson from the Union Leader before, but if this article is any indication, I’m not missing much.

Okay, that’s a bit harsh.  MacPherson isn’t a terrible writer, just a stereotypical member of the New England sports media looking for trouble where there most likely isn’t any.  His article today is nothing but a whinefest about how horrible the Red Sox (specifically Theo and Tito) are to their players.   Listen, I can give  you a laundry list of players who I felt got the shaft by the team.  But it’s a personal feeling and in no way takes away from the fact that I understand the team does what it does, ultimately, for the betterment of the organization as a whole and it’s not anything personal.  MacPherson seems to be taking fanboyishness to a new level today:

WHETHER OR NOT the Red Sox sign Mark Teixeira this week — or next week or the week after — Theo Epstein and Terry Francona are going to have some serious work to do.

They’ll have some work to do with Mike Lowell, first of all. He signed a team-friendly contract just a year ago, turning down more years and bigger money elsewhere, but he became trade bait as soon as the Red Sox began courting Teixeira.

It’s not just Lowell, though. They’ll have work to do with Kevin Youkilis — and Josh Beckett, and even Dustin Pedroia.

The Teixeira negotiations have sent a message to everyone who wears a Red Sox uniform: We don’t care who you are. You are expendable.

Is he for real? He thinks these players don’t know that baseball is a business and the teams they play for will do whatever they can to sign players who will help the team win?

He thinks that, after the season he had physically, Mike Lowell didn’t know this would possibly be happening?

And Kevin Youkilis is on record as having said:

If we add a guy like Mark Teixeira to the team, that would be great,” said Youkilis. “You never know – I might be the guy traded (to make room). But I don’t mind it; I get to play baseball for a living.”

MacPherson is right. Youk sounds pissed to me. (Shout out to SG for the heads up on that story.)

MacPherson gives no reason Beckett will need to be “worked” with and he goes on to admit that Pedroia doesn’t have to “worry”.   Hell, though, he even throws Jason Bay into the mix.   He needs to be concerned that the Red Sox have no loyalty to their players.  He brings up Bronson Arroyo.  You remember Bronson.  He was traded in 2006.  Red Sox stuck a knife in his heart when they traded him (and got suck in return).  It was shitty and  many people thought so.  Funny, though, how it hasn’t stopped players from signing with the Sox.  Funny how it hasn’t affected the success of the team.

Here’s how MacPherson ends his piece:

Baseball is a business, sure. But when your product is your people, you have to treat them a certain way.

I, actually, don’t entirely disagree with this.  But here’s the thing for me, loyalty goes both ways.  The Red Sox treated Manny like a God and he gave them the finger.  They made really good offers to Pedro Martinez and Johnny Damon and were told “we’re going where the money is”.  There is practically NO loyalty in baseball (Bronson Arroyo aside) but to blame it solely on the owners (and, in this case, the entire Red Sox front office) makes no sense to me.

I often say that if I were GM, John Valentin would have been the shortstop until he shattered into a million pieces.  This is one of the many reasons I’m not a general manager of a baseball team.  I’ll tell you what, I don’t want to see Mike Lowell go anywhere.  He’s been great for this team, he seems like a genuinely good guy, and in a time when he could have taken advantage of the free agent market, he, essentially, took a discount to stay in Boston.  I think it would stink on ice if he got booted just because someone younger and shinier came to town.  But as much as I would hate it, I understand it.  And so do the players – I’m guessing more than I.

Baseball is a business.  It’s lousy, but true.  And it’s probably the first thing these guys learn about baseball once they hit the bigs.  This isn’t news to anyone.