I found it, I found it!

Red Sox fans out there, have you ever wondered what the single, most important reason was that the Red Sox finally won the World Series in 2004 for the first time since 1918, 86 long years ago? For some, my grandfather (Bumper) included, they lived their entire lives never getting to experience that euphoria we all felt one October evening in 2004 under a blood red moon in St. Louis. Human nature is funny; I cried that night, just like I did back in 1986.

I think it is part of human nature, to understand the root cause of certain major occurrences like the beginning of Christianity, the shooting of JFK, the Space Shuttles Challenger & Columbia disasters, and the end of the Red Sox 86-year World Series drought. In some instances, the need to understand the reasons (and in many, many cases the single, MOST IMPORTANT reason) are a necessity for improvement, as in the Space Shuttle disasters (solid rocket booster O-Rings and external fuel tank insulating foam, respectively). But, in most instances, I would say that human nature is taking over. WE NEED TO KNOW WHY!

What was different in 2004 from 1946, or 1967, or 1975, or 1978, or 1986, or 1988, or 1990, or 1995, or 1998, or 1999, or 2003? In each of these instances, I would say that lots of different reasons can be given for why the Red Sox didn't bring home the World Series Trophy in each of these years. In the most heart-wrenching cases, we have certainly created our scapegoats, deserved or not.

I will start at 1986 because I am not old enough to have first-hand experience from any of the previous gutwrenchers. In the 1986 World Series, I prefer to blame John McNamara for leaving Bill Buckner in the game. I also feel that if you want to lay the blame on Buckner rather than McNamara, why does Bob Stanley not get as much of the blame as Buckner?

In the 2003 ALCS, I think the general consensus within Red Sox Nation lays the blame on Grady Little's shoulders. However, it is interesting to note the differences between the popularly labeled scapegoat in 1986 (Buckner) and in 2003 (Little). Why, for instance, did Red Sox Nation ostracize the player on the field on 1986 rather than the manager that decided to leave him there, only to reverse directions in 2003 and blame the decision-maker? (Can anyone say DAN SHAUGHNESSY?) Pedro Martinez and Tim Wakefield met with very little criticism for their part in letting the ALCS slip away in 2003.

So, considering all the chances that the Red Sox had to bring home the trophy since 1918, what is the one, overarching reason that Red Sox Nation had to wait 86 years? The reason I have determined today, after reading this article, Henry, Sox feeling the pinch of revenue sharing, luxury tax by Michael Silverman in the Boston Herald, is an ownership philosophy. I would like to point your attention to the last paragraph of the article:

"All of the owners I have met -— I cannot think of one outlier - place winning above profit,"” said Henry. "Baseball is trying to become a profitable enterprise despite that fact. You don't buy a baseball team to make money. I argued with David Ginsberg, who chairs the Red Sox finance committee, when we bought the team. He tried to tell me we were going to make money. I told him he was crazy."”

More specifically, Henry's last two sentences hit me like a ton of bricks. "He tried to tell me we were going to make money. I told him he was crazy." I am reminded now of what I always used to hear when I was 16, 17, 18 and frustrated that I could not keep a girlfriend. "Stop looking so hard, and you will find someone." The new ownership of the Boston Red Sox found the key to bringing the World Series Trophy home to New England, run the team as if you want to win the World Series rather than to make money. I think they have also found that making money is the "girlfriend" in the analogy above.

Catching up on the AL East

Gordon Edes put together a summary of what has happened around baseball this offseason. Here are the snipets that pertain to our favorite division:

1. Who's the funky guy in the oversized, black Elvis Costello glasses?
   Gordo lets us know that there are two new managers in the AL East. He is referencing Joe Maddon with the Elvis Costello joke, new manager of the Tamba Bay Devil Rays. The other is the Oriole's Sam Perlozzo.
   
   Both of these teams can brag about new general managers as well, with Jim Duquette taking over in Baltimore and Andy Friedman taking over in Tampa Bay, where I hear this will be the last year we are calling that team the Devil Rays.


2. Why is my accountant telling me to buy stock in Starbucks?
   Let's not be caught by surprise when player production drops way off late in the season this year. During this offseason, MLB and the MLBPA enacted a ban on greenies (amphetamines, a stimulant used by as many as 85% of baseball players, according to former Yankee and Ranger Chad Curtis).


3. Who's going to play in the World Baseball Classic, and should I care?
   Gordo's spin on this piece is "It may be easier to tell you who won't be playing." So far, his short list included only a few names from the AL East, Yankees Mariano Rivera and Hideki Matsui.


4. Since not everyone is as classy as Johnny Damon and buys a full-page ad to remind me, can you tell me some of the other changes of address I need to know about this winter?
   This is a collection of players who switched teams during the offseason. Kevin Millar is an Oriole. So is Jeff Conine, again, with Kris Benson and Corey Patterson. He leaves out the new acquisitions made by the Blue Jays in lieu of the next piece.


5. I've never had money to spend, and now I've got millions in spare cash. Will that make a difference in my life?
   This is a bit dedicated solely to the myriad changes the Blue jays made with their new-found riches. In case you missed my post from last week on this, here it is. J.P Ricciardi invested a total of $107 million signing free agent starter A.J. Burnett, closer B.J. Ryan, and catcher Bengie Molina. Ricciardi also picked up Troy Glaus and Lyle Overbay in trades.


6. Give me the names of some kids I should watch this spring.
   WHAT??!! The Yankees don't have any young talent we should keep an eye on? The only current AL East player (the Sox traded two young infielders the offseason) mentioned is the Sox Jonathan (DON'T CALL ME JON!) Papelbon.

A Silent Ox?

In case you are wondering where the hell the title of this post comes from, please carefully read Nick Cafardo's (from the Boston Globe) piece today about the Clemens saga. Hopefully, no one corrects the typo before you get the chance to catch it. The headline reads "ox silent on possible return of Clemens."

He's calling this a "well-orchestrated silence." I really love watching reporters who don't have a story because no one will talk to them scramble to make a story out of little shards here and there. Uhhh, no, I DON'T think it's a coincidence that Al Nipper was just named interim pitching coach and he's a close friend of Clemens. I think it's a conspiracy. The Hendricks brothers (Jimi had a brother?) paid off Dave Wallace's doctor to implant some fucking flesh eating bacteria in his damn hip just to set this up and get Clemens back to Boston.

I'm done ranting. I am still wicked hopeful that the Sox can pull this off. I was glad that Nick was able to get a quote from Francona on the issue. "I know they're trying very hard. Our interest is sincere. I know we've tried to give Roger his space and honor his privacy, but I know we're trying."



Awwww, c'mon! Blogspot has a neat little tool here that let's me spellcheck my post via a little pop-up window that notifies me of unrecognized words. I understand Nipper, Wallace, Jimi, and Cafardo. But "fucking?" If fucking is not in your dictionary, then you are a fucking idiot! There, that's three more fucking spelling mistakes, I mean four.

Hilarious dialogue

In the absence of any substantive link for Jason, I'm gonna give him some kudos . . .

Dave: he says I should use the headline "Blue Jays pay $47 million for a BJ" at some point
Jason: i'd say they overbaid.
Dave: so, how much for a HJ?
Dave: well, we already know what an AJ costs!
Jason: Overbaid? come on, thats comedy gold.
Dave: OMG
Jason: Overbayed.
Dave: I figured you typoed, but there's like 3 inches between P and B
Jason: negative
Jason: im just that damn clever
Dave: I MEASURED IT!
Jason: lol
Dave: 3.5"
Dave: like, EXACTLY!
Jason: Shea Hillenbrand got 5.7 million from the jays
Jason: in laymens terms, that's like 1 mill for every walk.

Roger, please come home

So, who wants to hear what I have to say about Clemens coming to play for Boston in 2006?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Well, tough shit! Here I go anyway, and leave the damn room if you don't like it . . .

I've read all the articles about the video tape. I've read a few (Beth, Matt, and Eric) blogs with folks weighing in on the issue. I've come to the following conclusion.

I am willing to lay my heart on the line and get my hopes way up that Roger will come back for another season in Boston in 2006. Please notice that I did not say that he would "play his final season in Boston," because at last count, that would make his fourth (1996, 2003, 2005, 2006) final season. OK, counting 1996 isn't fair to Roger because Duquette was the only one who felt he should retire.

I wonder, however, what the Sox would do to get him back. I've heard the number $15 million batted around. Does that mean that the Sox would feel like they needed to shed that much before signing him? Clemens said in December that he would consider playing for "Houston, Texas, New York and Boston. I love all those places, they have great players that I respect very much." If the Sox can sign him without trading away salary like Clement, I say go for it!

Let me explain why I am willing to risk getting burned on this one, because I see many people "hedging their bets" on the issue, worried that they'll get too excited about it and then have their hopes crushed. I don't have lots of crystal clear memories from my younger years. (I think 36 is old enough to start using that phrase, Bryan Adams must have been using it at 30! "Ohhh, thinkin' about our younger years, there was only you and me, we were young and wild and free") But, one of those memories that sticks with me all these years involves a cold, rainy morning in April way back in 1986. I was a sophomore in high school, waiting at the bus stop at 6:30 AM trying to stay warm.

The Sox had been playing on the West Cost, in Seattle, so I hadn't yet found out the result of the game the night before. Finally, the bus arrived to save us from the shitty weather. As I climbed on board, I heard the bus radio going to commercial from a hint at what was coming up in the news with something about Clemens and the number 20. I found my seat and waited patiently for the commercials to end and get back to the news. That brief, half-missed summary of the news had not prepared me for what I was about to hear, and I nearly went though the roof when I heard that Clemens had struck out 20 batters in Seattle the night before!

OK. Fast-forward about 6 months to October 1986. This is another crystal clear memory for me. Come to think of it, I believe that this proves to be the ONLY time in my life I have ever CRIED while riding a bicycle. Another cold one, but this time dry and around midnight. The Red Sox came within one strike of winning the 1986 World Series that evening, in the sixth game of the Series. Thinking back on it, that was only the SIXTH game, which meant that they had another chance in game seven. Yet, there I was, a 16 year old bawling his eyes out riding around on his bicycle after midnight.

Roger, this is one fan who is not going to worry about getting burnt by dreams forced upon me by the media. I want you to pitch one more season in Boston, no matter the cost, no matter the special considerations.

Hating the Yankees, "All in Good Fun"

The Boston Red Sox Single A affiliate in Lowell, MA, the Lowell Spinners, have made a very gracious offer to Yankees teams across New England. No, wait, that didn't sound right. The Spinners announced today that they have offered to youth baseball leagues around New England the following deal if only they will change the name of their (often) Little League team from the Yankees to the Spinners.

1. The Spinners will pay the cost of replacing the uniforms.


2. The new Little League Spinners team will be allowed to play a game at the Lowell Spinners ballpark before a Spinners game this summer.


3. Following that game, the Little League kids get to burn their old uniforms in effigy on the Spinner's mound.

Alright, I made that last one up . . .

According to general manager Tim Bawmann's press release, "When you are a kid playing baseball it is pure fun, and worrying about what team you are on should be the least of your concerns. It becomes an issue where kids are devastated when they find out they are on the Yankees. Many kids actually pray they will not be on the Yankees when the rosters and teams are announced." I can't argue with that assessment. It never happened to me since my league used local business names instead (yeah, we're rednecks up here in Maine), but I now it would have sucked playing for the Yankees (That's your HW JD, write that last statement 5,000 times before tomorrow morning!)

The Spinners claim that they have already "converted" teams from three different youth baseball leagues in New England: the Chelmsford Little League (stay tuned to that website for the NEW snackshack duty list!), Methuen Instructional League, and Tewksbury Youth Baseball.

Word Clouds are neat

Thanks Beth.

Go here to make your own Word Cloud.