No hate, just respect.
7.28.04: Schill is crystal clear on nyyfans.com: "The YH hat situation is a bit out of hand though, I wore it because someone gave it to me, and I am a Red Sock. I've stated many times that there is ZERO hatred on the field between these two teams, for the most part, zero. Probably as much respect as anything. FWIW I don't hate anyone, or anything for that matter.
The hatred part is in the stands and in the media, they need that sorta stuff for material, and they make it into their own little story often times. What they don't make up, fans seem to give them willingly."
For the last time, real Sox fans don’t wear that crap. And they don’t promote curses.
More revenue. Less sharing.
The DNC circus may not be the best thing for Boston, but it’s certainly benefiting the Red Sox. Boston Dirt Dogs has learned that all week long, companies have rented Fenway Park for various functions, and most include allowing the guests to take batting practice (which is basically three swings), tour the warning track, take some hacks in the batting cage under center field, throw off the bullpen mound with a radar to clock their velocity, and free beer and food (mostly hot dogs and chicken fingers). Plus, some retired Sox players have been on hand to sign autographs. So far, Jim Rice, Luis Tiant, Jim Lonborg, Dwight Evans, and Rich Gedman (who is in MUCH better shape today than he ever was while playing), and Dick Radatz have stopped by. They've all been on their best behavior.
The groups also tour the clubhouse, which is rare. It costs these companies $250,000 for four hours, and that's a lot of coin. Any money the Sox receive from this is non-revenue sharing profit, which is why the Sox are really pushing for more functions in the .406 club, right field roof, etc. None of those activities count toward their revenue, as far as MLB is concerned.
Jerry-Edwards, that’s the ticket.
The chant was one of the loudest of the night "Kerry! ... Kerry! ... Kerry!" during the seventh inning of Sunday night’s game at Fenway. But looking down a few sections we could see that faux-fan John Kerry had not budged from Henrytown, where he was busy hugging and kissing and high-fiving all night. Why the chant? Suddenly it got louder, and it became clear that it was actually "Jerry! ... Jerry! ... Jerry!" for Jerry Springer, who sprung out of his seat behind the Sox dugout to get himself a hot dog and beer.
No surprise that Springer was there. The Fenway grandstand was a virtual Springer show set, full of morons and rejects with their Yankees and Jeter’s sore throat chants, and wearing their trashy, petty “take your 26 rings and shove them” shirts (wonder if these godawful t-shirts were designed by the ketchup heiress herself?). And those were the women.
Tussle then Russell.
I caught the Fight Club wraslin’ match Saturday while getting ready for the Globe’s media party at the beautiful convention center in downtown Boston, but had to leave the house with the score 10-8 Yanks. While I was looking for a TV, radio, or Internet kiosk to confirm that the Sox had indeed lost the game as I assumed, I saw the unmistakable image of the greatest team player that ever lived, Celtics legend Bill Russell, sitting in the corner. I immediately went over with my hand extended on the chance that Russ would be in a rare good mood. He was. Our conversation was brief. I thanked him for all he had done for Boston and was glad to see that he was back in the city that treated him so poorly, for so long (OK, they must have paid Bill a bundle to appear in the Boston2004 DNC radio spots where he talks about Boston as a "city of human kindness"). No doubt Bill Mueller hit the game winning at the precise moment I was shaking Bill Russell’s magic hand. No doubt.
No more flak for Ben.
Say what you want about Ben Affleck’s politics and womanizing during the DNC, but anybody that is willing to jaw with A-Fraud from Steinbrenner’s seat, as Ben did on Sunday night, is the real deal. He remains a better celeb rep of The Nation than Mike O’Malley and Michael Chiklis combined.
Get well soon Jason Giambi. Because we want to beat the Yankees with your overrated ass in the lineup in October. No intestinal entamoeba histeroidlytica parasite jokes in this space.
Sleepless in Boston.
Like most of Boston, I was so wiped out after the DNC-Yankee weekend that I made Mariah Carey look like Rip Van Winkle.
B.K. still giving us the finger.
The $10 million investment continues to pay minor dividends as B.H. Kim hit two consecutive Syracuse batters last night in a two-run fourth, keeping his ERA a shade under 4.00 in 13 Triple-A starts. Maybe we can trade him for Randy Johnson straight up?
J.T. the Jerk.
J.T. the Brick has always been a fool, but he is also a tool. He thinks Jason Varitek had time to take his mask off after filfthy-mouth Alex Rodriguez started the wrestling match by saying “come on” as Tek pleaded with him to just go to first base like a man.
Site of the week: www.unFREEzeTED.com
Red Sox players eat their own too.
File under Thin "Skin to Win" (his latest cheer, yee-yah): Riff-raffer Kevin Millar "I don’t listen to talk radio” is mad at the "talk show caller-inners who never played major league baseball" again. The guy’s got some stones to constantly take on the fans that pay his salary, that’s for damn sure. But opening his mouth wider than his new stance seems to work for him. So be it.
In the midst of his 12-month slump a few weeks ago, Cowboy tries to upset us by compartmentalize fans into "the wishy-washy fans vs. the true fans" whatever the hell that means.
On his paid gig on Fox Sports Net’s New England Sports Tonight, Kentucky Fried went into a red-eye rant about fans who were saying he sucks: "I’m not gonna listen to their radio shows, I think their radio shows suck." Problem is, the Fenway faithful make those radio shows what they are. He then had the gall to dust off the tired cliché "this is not a sprint, it’s a marathon." As one astute ‘EEI caller said, "it’s been a marathon for 86 years, can we try a sprint for once?"
Kevin went on to further insult our intelligence by rolling out the old NFL and Nomar Garciaparra empty phrase, "it’s not about the name on the back of the uniform, it’s about the name on the front." Can Gabe Kapler tutor this cat on how to speak to The Nation please?
The naked net.
Do Internet guys get the, "all guests receive a gift certificate from Eastern Clothing when appearing on Sports Final?" Guess not. Eric Christensen of SoSH and I have been checking our mail for the CBS4 letterhead since November after our appearance on Bob Lobel’s Sunday show. Guess only the traditional media guests get the goods.
Hit Dog laying down the law with Nomar.
7.20.04: More trouble for disgruntled Red Sox player Nomar Garciaparra. Former Foxy Lady cheeseburger eating champion Mo Vaughn is suing the departing shortstop over an escalating dispute related to agreements allegedly broken regarding the Hit Dog hitting camps. Nomar and Mo both had camps run by Mo's Hit Dog company, but then Nomar created The Nomar Garciaparra Hitting Camps and Clinics, which compete directly with Big Mo's now named HitDog Training and "Fitness" Center.
Regardless of who wins the legal battle, the funniest point is made on Nomar's camp site: "In 1999, with the departure of "The Hit Dog" Mo Vaughn, Nomar moved into the role as the everyday leader of the Boston Red Sox, and it is a role he handled with poise and grace." Um, yeah, okay. The only thing needed to make this a complete three-ring circus is if John Flynn and Dan Duquette get called to the witness stand.
7.21: Update/details: Here's the skinny on Mo's lawsuit from Wednesday's Boston Globe. "Hit Dog was harmed when fewer than 100 young people showed up for its January 2004 clinic and estimated 500 showed up at Garciaparra's batting clinic on the same weekend, said Vaughn's attorney Joseph Connors Jr. Revenue plunged to less than $32,000 for the Hit Dog baseball clinic, which had brought in $148,000 the prior year, according to documents in the suit filed in Suffolk Superior Court on Friday." Naturally Victor "full of sheath" Garciaparra is involved in this unfortunate situation. Scenes from the Nomar's happy campers on January 17:
According to the Globe story "When told about the lawsuit, in the Red Sox clubhouse as he prepared for the team's game yesterday against the Seattle Mariners, Garciaparra said, "I have no idea what you're talking about.""
CBS4's Steve Burton on WEEI's Big Show: "They (Mo and Nomar) had a big time falling out... they're feuding, they don't get along right now."
Taking advantage of Schilling and Manny.
7.20.04: A couple of slimy charlatans are also trying to avoid big time trouble with the law. One of the godawful Obsess About Hating the Yankees operations got in trouble with the Schilling camp for using an unauthorized photo of Curt wearing their free crap in their online advertising campaign. They had to pull down all the ads over the weekend to avoid legal action. In a similar situation, one of the Wear Some Curse Crap scammers is about to be served if they continue to use an unauthorized photo of Manny Ramirez to promote their junk as well. Somebody call Johnny Cochran.
Angry John Henry dope slaps SoSHer on fraudulent "fraud" charge.
7.20.04: Owner kills "Pumpsie" after attack: Current Red Sox and former Florida Marlins owner John Henry responds to a poster's charge of fraud on SoSH relating to a Florida Marlins insurance case ruling.
Longtime SoSH member "Pumpsie" writes: "the judge is saying that Henry tried to take out another $2.7 million in insurance with another company on a player which he KNEW had arm troubles and didn't let this other insurance company know about it. I believe that's called "fraud." And it's $2.7 million worth of fraud. Not a small thing."
John Henry, in an unprecedented public response at 2:15am this morning, lashes back:
"Pumpsie, I have to address your alias, what do you call an inaccurate statement like this? I call it slander, but I may be wrong. It may be libel.
Because the Marlins are appealing this verdict and because I know very little about the actual case other than the verdict, I can not comment yet on this. And I'm not going to comment on ridiculous remarks from a pitcher. Tying two inaccurate things together is something I should expect from no-name imbeciles.
Let's see what an appellate court has to say about the judge's actual comments in this case."
Trot Nixon's free ride continues.
7.20.04: "I realize that you love Trot Nixon and I'm just as in favor of bashing Nomar when he looks pissed and bitter and isn't producing, but you need to add some balance to your site. Anytime Nixon does the smallest of things right (such as run through a stop sign to score a run) he gets positive press on your website. However, when Nomar goes 2-4 with a run scored, he gets "Nomar's bit-er". Nixon is batting .253 right now with an OPS of over 100 points less than Nomar. I would like to see some tid-bits asking what is wrong with the person that most of New England thought would be a huge part of this team this year. Thanks for doing your website, I have a lot of respect for your work.
Sincerely,
Ryan Boughan"
John Henry comes out of hiding.
7.19.04: The owner chimes in late night on SoSH: "This is without any doubt, a supremely talented team. If you take 900 OPS players the caliber of Nomar, Trot and Bill and a pitcher with the talent of Scott Williamson away from any team for a couple of months, it's going to have an impact.
It seems like we haven't played that well because we have such great talent and our exectations are so high - as they should be. Nevertheless, there are only 4 teams in MLB that currently have a better record than we do. Our run differential is the second best in baseball (behind St. Louis). So we're very, very capable.
I will be shocked if this team doesn't respond very well to the challenges in front of them. They're getting healthy and they continue to have your strong support every night at Fenway. How could they not have a great record at home with the kind of electricity being generated by the fans nightly in the park! Being there is really something very, very special. Thanks!"
The sum of all fears.
7.19.04: Manny suddenly doesn't get it: "When I'm ready, I'll go out there. There's no rush. We're not pushing the panic button, you know." There's no rush?!? There's no rush?!? Oh my. And shockingly, Tito has no clue about us either: "If he (Manny Ramirez) doesn't play in the All-Star Game, he's going to get absolutely (expletive) crushed." Wait, what?!? Like the way Schilling got crushed for putting the Boston Red Sox before an American League exhibition game?!? TITO STOP BS'ing US ALREADY. We are not idiots for chrissakes. Stop insulting our intelligence with your ridiculous public statements.
Nothing funny about clowning around.
7.19.04: Theo is paying attention to the big club after all. During yesterday's pre-game show, he took the team to task for acting like clowns on the bench "We're at a crossroads right now... Last year the guys who didn't care, or the guys who were goofing around, they kind of faded to the background. I think that's what has to happen here. The guys who really care and want to win more than anything in the world need to step up and take control of the club and find a way to will this club to victory."
David. David. David.
7.17.04
From MFLetou on RSN.net -- "Couple of points:
First and foremost SOMEBODY in the dugout needed to stay with Ortiz. I was expecting him to come charging out of the dugout any second. A coach or somebody should have been standing literally glued to him as he made his way in the dugout and then gotten his ass to the clubhouse. There's no excuse for that, when a guy is as hot as David was.
I think you all need to step back and see this incident from an outsider's eyes. MLB and baseball fans nationally don't care that David is a happy go lucky guy. They aren't even ever going to know how bad the umpiring was tonight (frankly that deserves its own thread, it was the most shameful job I've ever seen). What they are going to see is David literally throwing bats at umpires.
People, that is REALLY REALLY BAD. Its worse than even throwing a baseball or spitting at an umpire. Throwing a bat at another human being can seriously harm them, its dangerous and it sets a bad example. Milton Bradley did not physically endanger anyone with his little tirade. Ortiz did. I think MLB, justifiably, is going to throw the book at him. Honestly, he deserves 10 games for this.
I'm not taking sides in the DD (Boston Dirt Dogs subheads on story) debate, but I think you guys are misinterpreting the "fire" David showed. I don't think it had anything to do with the team, or wanting to win. I think it was about David. He was pissed because HE struck out. It made him look bad, and then he got showed up by the umpire. That has absolutely nothing to do with the team.
And I don't understand having that kind of reaction. What was he going to do, beat the umpire up? That's dangerous. Do you guys really fly off like that when somebody does something to you? Do you really try to beat them up and have to be restrained? I've never had to be restrained in my entire life. Sure, I've thrown stuff around my living room (generally Red Sox related), but never AT someone and I've never tried to hurt somebody. If Terry hadn't been there, what was Ortiz going to do, slug the guy?
And by the way, for once Francona deserves credit for this. I think he handled Ortiz the best way possible, and he actually did a good job managing the game.
Anyway, I love David Ortiz and he's one of my favorite players. But you have to admit when a guy's wrong, and frankly what I saw from him tonight was scary and its the type of thing that literally can ruin a guy's career through ruining his reputation. This is up there with Everett, Alomar and Bradley. And that's company you do NOT want to be in.
It was a selfish act, and I'm sorry his teammates and coaches didn't prevent him from doing it. Please, don't sit here and try to defend it. Its not acceptable behavior."
Sam Horn wants 26,000 more sons.
The Providence Journal gives us an update on Sam Horn's activities: Now living in East Greenwich, Horn has cultivated a more public image in recent years. He is now president of the website sonsofsamhorn.com, which was initially started several years ago by some devoted fans as a chat room for all things Red Sox, but has since grown considerably.
It is still a forum for Sox diehards, but it gained some notoriety when Curt Schilling visited the site while Boston was courting him in the offseason. Schilling has said the knowledge and devotion shown by fans on the website helped in his decision to join the Sox.
Schilling helped bring SOSH, as it is sometimes called, into the limelight, and other recent events have further upped its popularity.
"After the all-star break, we're going commercial (with the site)," Horn said last night during a pause from signing and shaking hands. "We have 26,000 people waiting to be members, and now we're going to be able to do that. We've gone from 70,000 (site hits) a day to 112,000 in the last month and a half."
Aside from his eponymous website, Horn has also remained in the public eye through his work with NESN. He appears on the Red Sox post-game show fairly often. While he enjoys his television work (more than one fan was overheard last night praising him), Horn, who also runs the Around the Horn sports center in East Greenwich, said he'd like to add more to his plate.
"I would definitely like to be like Tewksbury, have two affiliations," he said, "where I can express my opinions and be used as a hitting instructor."
Unlike many athletes, Horn said he likes meeting fans and signing autographs.
Part of the appeal, he said, is liking being looked at as a celebrity. But, Horn said, he only obliges those that ask nicely.
"I call it supply and demand. If people ask nicely, I want to help. If they demand, then he is more likely to turn them down," said Horn.
More Heyman hogwash.
Apparently New York Newsday has become the Weekly World News overnight because John Heyman continues to embarrass himself with another nutty piece published on July 4th:
Barks & Bites continued
