Hatin it!!! No Tex for you!
Looks like the Red Sox, who were thought to be the front runners in the Mark Texiera sweepstakes, are out of the running.
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!
I was really hoping that we'd pick him up for 1st base, trade Lowell, and move Youk to 3rd, and somehow ditch Lugo and have Lowrie play short. Yeah, well, that doesn't look like it's happening. I have a feeling he's either going to go to the Nationals or the Oroiles, or maybe stay in LA with the Halos. I'm officially going to put a hit out on him if he goes to the Yankees.
Cooperstown
Last year, right after the Red Sox had won the World Series, I was lucky enough to go to the Baseball Hall of Fame. My best friend and I went and came home to two very upset kids, our sons. So a few months ago, A asked me if I wanted to go back again, this time with the boys.
Duh?! 
Leaving tomorrow am with Aidan to go pick up A's son D, going up to Albany, picking A up at the airport, and driving out to Cooperstown. We're gonna spend a few hours walking around town, maybe pick up some souvenirs, grab a bite to eat while talking about baseball the whole time, and then head back to the hotel and let the boys swim for a while before crashing. We're going to go over to the Hall first thing Sunday and spend the day, be back Sunday evening sometime. Gotta love a chance to hang out with your buddy, your kid, and talk baseball for two days
Sometimes nice guys finish first
Dustin Pedroia, the 5'9" second baseman for my beloved Red Sox, just took the AL MVP award. The guy is unbelievably talented - he won a golden glove, a silver slugger, and now the MVP. He's one of the major reasons they did as well as they did this year.
Nice thing is, Boston also got third place with Kevin Youklis, their 1st baseman who ended up playing 3rd for a large part of the season.
Yeah, and A-Rod? 6th 
Never count em out…
So I'm in my office yesterday and a fellow Sox fan tells me 'no way'. He's speaking of course about the streaking Rays and how they're gonna win last night.
"Maybe, but it's never over with them...I'll believe the 3rd out in the 9th inning."
Am I psychic?
Kazmir was the pitcher, so I thought the Sox would have a better chance because he didn't pitch well in game 2(or was it 1?). He shut them down last night, so much for wishful thinking. They didn't hit doodley. By the 5th inning, Dice K was already gone, they were up by 5 already, it was looking really bad.
7th inning they get two more. Oye, well at least Fae will be happy, she won't be a baseball widow. I got a late snack, put on my hat, and watched as they took the Sox down batter by batter.
And then they got a few hits. Pedroia gets up and singles and brings one home. "Good, at least it's not a freakin shutout. Come on guys, don't go out this way."
El Senor 'MyBatIsn'tWorkingInTheOffseason' Ortiz decides he's had enough with the strikeouts - three run homer. Dude, the stadium went crazy. I think I heard them in NJ. Now it's 7-4. Okay, this is better. It's reachable now. Lets see what happens.
8th inning, nothing for the Rays. Okay, lets see what the boys can do. DUDE!!! THREE MORE?!?!? JD Drew hits a two run shot, Kotsay gets a double and Crisp, after a 8 or 9 pitch count, slaps a single to bring Kotsay home and tie it up. Granted, he gets tagged out at 2nd, but all of a sudden, it's a VERY INTERESTING GAME!!
Masterson pitched a beautiful 9th, didn't let anyone score. Youk gets a double on a bad throw to Pena. They intentionally walk Bay to get to Drew. WHy? I know the force out, but he just hit a two run shot! Well, he hit a nice shot to bring Youk home - game over Sox win 8-7.
Sorry Yankee fans, you'll have to wait at least one more game to have your big laugh. Problem is, this is what the Red Sox do. Hope you start praying, because the bats are awake, the boys are psyched, and we're headed for another game.
Josh Beckett, savior of last year, I'm praying for you my friend. You are now the man, don't let me down.
Maddon and the Rays - you have been unbelievable all season. Tho I do hope you're a little nervous now
Papi - you know I love you man. You've been hurt AND you lost the threat behind you so they're pitching you different. Heal up and figure them out again. You're amazing!!!
Fenway pics
WordPress is way too cool. I can link to my flickr account to show you the pics.
In…Freakin…Credible
note:I don't have the cable for my camera, I will post pics tonight
for those who haven't been following, I finally realized a dream last night. My 40th is coming up in January and my best friend, who is a diehard Mets fan wanted to remedy a crime in the world.
Would M@ get to Fenway before his 40th birthday?
Thanks to Alex, that would be a resounding YES!!!
We took off yesterday from our office around noon and headed up to Boston. I LOVE Boston. I love Boston more than I HATE NYC. Yes, I'm sorry, I grew up on Long Island, I live in NJ - I HATE NYC! I've never liked being there. "Oh the energy, the pace, the people, they're amazing, electrifying...blah blah blah" The energy and the pace make me agitated and nervous, no thanks. I go in from time to time because Fae loves it, and I appreciate certain things about it. Given the chance, I'd never go in again:)
Boston? Boston feels like home. I don't know why, but it always has. Ever been to a city that you have almost no connection to and it just feels right? Yeah, that's it for me. It was really nice yesterday because my buddy went to college up there and lived there for several years, so I got a tour of places around and in the city that I hadn't seen before.
So we found a place to park down the street from the park and walked back towards the field. Let me just start by saying this - this is a REALLY small park. I mean REALLY SMALL. I've walked all the way around Shea a time or two, but Fenway is REALLY SMALL. I'd say it's about 4 sq blocks in NYC. Tell you what tho, they pack it in. We walked around for a while, I got a REAL Sox hat, got hats for the kids, grabbed a beer(yes, non-alcoholic) that tasted better than it should, and wandered around outside the game for a while. The weird thing is, I was only 4 blocks away from where I spent a weekend in the early 90's when visiting a friend at Boston Univ. Should have gone then 
Then we went in.
Wow man. Everything I've watched for so long, all right there in front of me. Our seats were about MAYBE 40 feet from the field. During the game, i heard Kevin Youklis say SHIT! from almost all the way across the field.
The whole experience seems a little unreal to me. I saw the Ted Williams seat (longest home run hit in Fenway - the seat is Red), went and touched the foul pole, saw Josh Beckett smiling and talking to some fans while he warmed up. Saw the Sox stretching and warming up like 40 feet away. One of the biggest differences - I always knew this, but this totally confirmed it....
Big Papi has that name for a reason. Dude, he's huge. I mean HUGE. At one point, he and Pedroia were standing next to one another. Wow. Pedroia is a short guy, but DAMN, Papi is Big.
The grass seemed greener, the sounds seemed both more real and unreal at the same time. Hearing the players call for the ball, hearing the SMACK as Papi hit a home run. And I mean SMACK like the instant he hit it, no delay. KNEW as soon as he did, it was gone.
I was finally surrounded by people who understood my love for a team, who waited so long for them to finally make it, and then get lucky enough to do it again. I was surrounded by friends who were complete strangers, by people who listened to me go on and on about this player or that player or anything I wanted to talk about.
This one guy behind us tapped me on the shoulder late in the game and said the most profound thing I've heard in a long time - "Welcome to Fenway, Brother." I felt like I was home, like I was finally sitting in a place where I was supposed to be. Like I had been away for a long time and was finally coming home. I felt like I belonged in a way I hadn't ever felt before.
Besides my wedding and the births of my kids, on a totally Man/Testosterone laden level - the best day ever. And you know what? They didn't even win
a dream realized
I was hoping to be able to attach a pic of me with my blackberry, but its not happening. I'm here, psyched, and realizing a long time dream.
I was going to post a lot. You know what? I'm going to enjoy this without posting:)
Hope you understand, ill wrap it up tomorrow. For now I'm going to enjoy a game in my ballpark with my best friend.
Thanks Alex
All I can say is wow…
Firstly, I had to admit - I would have liked to see more than 4 games in the WS.
Secondly - THE SOX WON BABY!!!! 2007 CHAMPS!
Gotta love a win, way too cool. There were several times during games 3 and 4 where I thought the Rox would turn it around, but it didn't happen. The best thing about this team, is that they could really continue to do it this well. Several things are going on tho:
Lowell's contract needs to be renewed. Problem is the Sox usually don't renew contracts for people over 35. They're stupid if they don't renew it - BUT - they'll probably only offer him a 1-2 year deal, where I'm sure there are a lot of teams looking to pick him up for several years. Lowell's problem is that A-Rod is looking for a SS or 3B team to pick him up, so there's some competition. Probability to rehire - 50-50
They should pick up Schilling for another year because he's probably only got one left. I'd like to see him retire from the Sox, but he's said he's good for another year, so who knows. He's a free agent now, and his asking price is pretty high. Probability to rehire - low.
Wakefield's arm is shot, he's said he'd like to go another year. Dude? Retire, please.
Mirabelli - Go away dude. Cash can catch for Wake if he has to. Go away.
Kielty & Hinske - I think they should keep both of these guys. Good utility players in a clutch.
If they don't pick up Lowell -
I think Helton, the Rox 1st baseman, is up for Free Agency. If they could pick him up, push Youklis to 3rd, they'd be in really good shape. I think they might be able to mix Schilling into this deal, so who knows. I know that the Rox are interested in Pitchers, so send Schilling and Delcarmen to Rox, get Helton - we're set.
Gagne - do I even need to talk about this guy? He's so gone, I'm sure his house in MA is on the market already if he even bought one.
Buchholz - Make the man a starter.
Ellsbury - Declare him King of Boston Why he didn't get the MVP is beyond me. Lots and LOTS of good baseball in this guy.
What does that leave us with?
Coco - dude, you gotta go.
Lugo - start hitting, PLEASE. If not, drop in Cora.
Dustin - Dude? You're the man.
Youk - start warming up your 3rd baseman's glove dude.
Anyway, just random thoughts.
GO SAWKS!
Ask and ye shall receive
We all prayed at the altar of Beckett and he came through. Wow, what a game. He threw 11 k's last night, I've never seen a game pitched that well.
And the bats woke up, fancy that Hmmm, good pitching, good offense, tight defense - oh wow, we won!
Thank you Mr. Francona. Hopefully Schilling will come through in game 6 like he did in 2004 PLEASE?!?!?!?
A Lonely Fan
I'm surrounded man, I tell ya, I'm living in the wrong state, working for the wrong place.
Why, you ask? I'll tell you. I'm a Red Sox fan, living and working in Yankee Country. Oye! Almost everyone who cares in my office is a Yankee fan except for me, one other Sox fan, and 3 Mets fans. What a great season it's been for me, not having to hear the regular '26' chanted in my face all the time. The Sox faltered quite a bit at the end, but I think that the last two weeks, they regained their 'stuff' and really came back together.
It's also a great time to be a baseball fan. My friend Alex is a Mets fan, and even though he had a really rough end of the season, he's still loving baseball. Why? Have you been watching lately? The NL wildcard race ALONE was worth it. Btw, for those who care - do you think the guy really did touch home plate? I'm still doubting that, but I have to give it to the Rockies, they kicked some serious ass to get where they are. I wish them the best so we can SMOKE Them in the World Series.
Am I worried about the Indians? Totally.
Do I think the Sox will pull it off in three? Probably Not.
Do I think the Sox will be in the World Series? Totally.
All we need to do is keep Beckett & Schilling pitching that kind of game, have Dice K pull one off and all they'd need is Buchholz to throw one of those amazing games and we're in like Flynn.
Speaking of the Yankees - I have to say. I'm sad and glad for Torre at the same time. I'm sad that his tenure might be over, and I hope he'll be managing somewhere else next spring. At the same time, I think that he can do more with his experience and work for someone who is not as much of a tyrant as Steinbrenner.
We'll see.
I do have to say, I'M SO GLAD THE SEASON ISN'T OVER!!!!!