Nomar is still shopping around for a one-year, $3 million deal as a part-time DH/infielder. I hear that Nomie "won't be healthy" in 2005 and his ongoing issues and physical problems will persist. When Nomar left town, the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune's John Tomasi said "the nicest thing he ever said to me was 'get out of my way,' but at least he spit away from me." And for those of you who cry that "the truth lies somewhere in the middle." No. Nomar lies. The truth sits firmly on one side.

Kerry threw in the towel

Before the harmless Desperate Housewives promotion that is causing such a stir, WEEI's Glenn Ordway's reported Thursday, through his moles, that a planned ABC Monday Night Football skit (for last week?) called for senator John Kerry to appear with Tom Brady and a Red Sox player to talk about how we always win in Boston, well... J.F.K. backed out of the idea, which opened the door for T.O. on Monday night. Was I the only one who's first thought was just that the Nicolette and Terrell were shot separately and spliced together for the promo?

Busted, and not busted

Scalper activity was a little more covert during the playoffs around Fenway, but if the Red Sox put 1/10th the effort into shaking down scalpers on the street as they do hassling fans inside the park, the thugs could take their business elsewhere, like Storrow Drive, where they first hit you up on the way in. It should be interesting to hear Larry Lucchino's plan to stop scalping for the fourth year in a row. There was some good detective work going on around the park however. The MLB merchandising police raided Fenway Sportsworld on Boylston Street and fined them heavily for trafficking tons of imitation MLB apparel to fans in Boston. Twins Souvenirs was also surprised with a search of inventory by the MLB merchandise police, but all their goods were the real deal.

Card me, please

I've been carrying around this wrinkled $5 bill in my pocket for two weeks now waiting to join this thing called "Red Sox Nation." What happened? Where's the national ad campaign? Where do I send my money? I swear I'll go down there and stuff it into Dr. Charles’ pocket myself if I have to. We've got hundreds of emails on this, I'm sure the Sox have thousands on their faux pas. Becca chimes in:

"I don't need no stinkin' card.  If they want to know how many people are really in the Nation they should have set this $5 card thing up on your site without leaking it to the press. This is where the true members of the Nation come; your site is the true measure of the Nation."

Schilling comes out of his shell

After 16 hours of not seeing Curt Schilling on a news or entertainment program, I ran out to buy a black shirt for the funeral because I assumed he had died. Not the case. Curt breaks his silence with NECN's Mike Giardi that will air both tonight and Saturday night on Sports Late Night at 11 p.m. As always, Schill was excellent. Additionally, there was a photo shoot with Curt yesterday at Chez Schilling for a LIFE magazine cover for the December issue.

Odds and ends

Good to see Jim Corsi on the Legends boat during the World Series parade... Glad to hear Slappy Rodriguez is upset that Schilling keeps busting him and now has some motivation to play hard next season... belated R.I.P. to the irreplaceable Salty Brine... What's up with Mike Timlin's height-challenged mascot "Wellen" that he got from his sister-in-law’s front lawn? He comes up out of the blue on Leno's desk. And did he ever get into a beef with Nelson? Will this and more be covered in Tom Werner's upcoming book?... As Eric Wilbur says "Not enough was said about the Red Sox busting up Nelson's business at Fenway Park during the playoffs."... I hear former Secretary of State Colin Powell will be considered for the vacant bullpen coach post on the Sox to help with the team's newfound focus on discipline for the 2005 season... yes, I know Dauber was picked up for DUI. Don't kick a dirt dog when he's down... Hey, don't forget to learn to do the Mahow-Mahow here before MLB shuts it down... Somewhere on the planet, a Red Sox player is getting the key to a city, or hocking something on QVC... check out Faithful, "it's full of exciting anecdotes and the ups and downs of the season, what it's like to be a Red Sox fan", so it says... Can't shower fast enough: how nasty was that book business between Neyer/Kettmann? What an embarrassment. I heard Gammo wanted him fired over it... MLB sends me a holiday shopping email featuring a New York Yankees jacket, great profiling. I love those guys for the content -- Ian Browne is outstanding -- but more for the comedy they continue to provide on a daily basis -- you can still buy NY Yankees 2004 AL Champions gear now online. When someone can figure out if MLB.com/RedSox.com is the homepage for the Boston Red Sox -- a place where you can learn about and interact with the team, like any corporate website -- or an independent media organization focused on Major League Baseball, please let me know. Is the homepage a newspaper or the homepage for the team? How can it be both?... I don't think I got any emails about the few bits done here on the election, let me look again, Schilling may have gotten one too... Manny will be responding to that Murray Chass NYT piece that bashed him for not helping George Washington High School with new uniforms. When he does, I'll have it here. According to Manny's sister Rossy "The truth is Manny has to make time to help the students at GWHS. The desire to help them is in his heart; he has expressed it to me."... As you may know, George Roy is adding an additional segment to the "you have to play along to be in it" The Curse of the Bambino on HBO. My friend and original dirt dog Paul Sullivan steals the show again... After going through the post-World Series inbox, apparently a few of you didn't get the memo that we don't do silly curses and gratuitous Yankee hating here... This was the original "Take Bill Buckner Off the Hook" site, but since he started bitching for no reason after the Series, the hell with him. No 2005 home opener first ball throw out for you... Check out a labor of love www.shermfeller.com... Also check out Freedom Park the movie...

The A-team?

A very late submission for Red Sox 2004 theme from BDD VIP Peter Stasiowski: The "A-Team"
  - "We love it when a plan comes together."
  - "Pity the fools who underestimate the A-Team"

Theo Epstein as Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith. Mike Timlin as Captain "Howlin' Mad" Murdock. Keith Foulke as Lieutenant Templeton "Face" Peck, and David Ortiz as Sergeant Bosco "B.A." Baracus.

Mailbag of tricks

Remember the bit on fired Apprentice 2 blowhard and Yankee fan Chris Russo? Where we simply pointed out a typo and provided a link to the site that Chris was promoting last Friday? Well, the fired TV star was nice enough to get in touch, writing an e-mail that threatened "legal action" if we didn't take it down and saying we'd be "held accountable" if anything happened to him. Hey Chris, lighten up ... You can find the entry on the Yesterday's News page, appropriately. I'd rather give my money to Brad Bleidt.

Not Vescey nice.

Remember Laura Vescey, who embarrassed herself in the Baltimore Sun by questioning Curt's ankle injury and calling it fake? The Sox fan used in her story chimed in to me:

"Dear Dirtdogs:

I have a confession to make and would like to clear the air.  I am the ‘North Boston’ dweller referred to in Laura Vescey’s article on Curt Schilling’s ankle.  Aside from minor slip ups such as misspelling my name as Micilli, or for being related to Peter Vescey of the New York Post for that matter (which she will be forgiven for), she put my quote in the context of questioning the cause of the stain on Curt’s sock.

As a long time reader of Bill Simmons, I was recently listed as one of the top ten reasons why the Sox need to win the World Series this year, so make no doubt as to my level of enthusiasm for all things Red Sox and please allow me to share my version of events with your readers.

On Sunday, I was fortunate to attend the game with my brother where we found ourselves sitting in front of the press seats behind right field.  It was there that Laura Vescey posed the question of Curt’s ankle to which I responded that it was blood and, as I am sure many of your readers would agree, is just the added element which can (and will) elevate an athlete of Curt’s status to that of a Larry Bird or Bobby Orr in this great city. Memories of a nearly hospitalized Larry Bird emerging from the locker room against the Indiana Pacers and teaching Chuck Person a true lesson in NBA greatness comes to mind.  Again, I think that within this proper context we can all agree that we will look back at Curt’s performance this year as quintessential Boston greatness, ankle-gate be damned, and I look forward to showing my kids his statue when it is all said and done!"

Still high on D-Lowe

Right before the playoffs started, Dennis Eckersley and Boston Dirt Dogs were the only two on earth that wanted D-Lowe to stay in the rotation, tossing third, going into the playoffs. Reader Matthew Thornhill wrote in then:

"Regarding Lowe: "But keep him number 3." Please tell me this comment is dripping in sarcasm or you just lost all credibility."

And yes, we stand by our New York source on the late-night Derek before that disastrous Bronx start in September. D-Lowe referenced BDD (but not Felger or Dickerson or Kentucky Fried) as the source of the rumor in his final appearance on 'EEI with Dennis & Callahan. Derek will really be missed. I don't even want to think about it.

Events and charities

Jimmy Fund chairman, Mike Andrews was kind enough to write to thank Boston Dirt Dogs for the promotion of the 3rd annual WEEI Jimmy Fund Radiothon presented by NESN. Over 8,000 donors came together to raise over $1,565,000 of which over $112,000 came from online donors (which is really great since WEEI and NESN were driving folks to the phones). Red Sox Nation online showed their charitable spirit again this month as over $50,000 was raised via the second-annual Sons of Sam Horn Jimmy-fundraiser. Thanks to everyone who took the time to crack open the wallet for the Jimmy Fund for both events.

Join the Juice Guys at Nantucket Nectars in saying thanks to the World Series Champs in a ‘big way.’ Fans can sign an enormous, customized thank you card extending 48-feet in length down at Faneuil Hall Marketplace this morning from 7:30am to 2am, Saturday 10am to 2am, and Sunday from 10am to 6pm. For each signature, Nantucket Nectars will make a $1 donation to the Jimmy Fund.  Ten thousand are expected to sign. 

The Benjamin Foundation is partnering with The Feinstein Foundation, and Founder Rhode Island philanthropist Alan Shawn Feinstein; owner of the original Babe Ruth 1919 contract in which the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $100,000.  Feinstein is providing authentic replicas of this 5-page contract, complete with cover and 4-page newspaper coverage; to The Benjamin Foundation to help raise money for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). A $30 donation to The Benjamin Foundation would get this coveted contract replica and all proceeds go to the charity.

They're hot tickets over on Yawkey Way.

9.23.04 update, WEEI's Gerry Callahan: "Larry, weren't you supposed to be looking into this situation (with ticket scalpers) a couple of years ago?"

Larry Lucchino: "That's a fair question...(hummina, hummina, hummina, blah, blah, yada, yada)... we've got to do something here, you can't just do something once, it's got to be kind of a continuing battle and we thought it was important before the post-season began, if we were lucky enough to be in the post-season began, that we send the message out, and we have sent the message out... then we are going to be cracking down, but that doesn't mean that in another year or two from now we won't be cracking down in some other way and trying to deal with the problem in some other way."

9.22.04: "Red Sox eye crackdown on ticket scalping" read the headline of the story on Larry Lucchino's new tough stance on illegal Red Sox ticket sales on the street. The AP article went on to say "Boston Red Sox officials are examining their ticket distribution system to see if there's a way to crack down on ticket scalping... team president and CEO Larry Lucchino ordered team officials to conduct 'a comprehensive study of all aspects of the organization which have the potential to interact with ticket selling and security,' public affairs director Dr. Charles Steinberg told the Boston Herald... The Herald said the review was initiated after the paper reported that scalpers, some with criminal records and ties to organized crime, conduct their illegal business openly around the ballpark. Lucchino asked Larry Cancro, vice president of sales and marketing, to collect all internal information on how scalpers get access to large blocks of tickets, according to Steinberg... Team executive vice president John Buckley told the Herald last week that the team spent $50,000 on police details last season, and that the officers 'do a good job' patrolling in and around the park on games days. But police records show the figure was $618,271, the paper reported, and that officers made just 11 scalping arrests at 81 home games."

Oh, forgot to mention that the date of the above report is March 29, 2002, a week after the highly-publicized Boston Herald three-part series that showed pictures of all the ex-cons and dime-store hoods who thrive in Kenmore Square, living in perfect harmony with the Boston Police department and Fenway security. So what happened? Fast forward to 2004, the same ticket scalping bums and thugs absolutely rule the streets surrounding Fenway Park, sometimes going all the way out to Storrow Drive to grab your extra tickets for pennies on the dollar. And it's the same guys who were supposedly "busted" in the Herald in 2002. Game after game, without any fear of reprisal, they verbally and sometimes physically assault Red Sox fans who roam around Fenway wondering if there are any tickets available. One mean-ass thug, when offered less than face value after the third inning of a Detroit game, screamed at us "I'll rip these tickets right up in front of you and be a man (rather than meet our asking price)!!" It was scary. And there was not a cop or Fenway security person for miles, just hordes of trashy meatheads yelling "selling tickets, need a ticket" every 10 feet. Presumably "security" were all in the park harassing seat squatters as is their new MO. And what the hell happened to the "Fenway ambassadors?" Did they go the route of Righty and Lefty, the "new" Fenway mascots announced in 2002 as well? All I know is every night, hundreds of tickets go unsold in the hands of the Scalper Kings. Which mean hundreds of real fans don't have a shot of getting into Fenway.

Bottom line: three years later, there are more aggressive scalpers than ever. They've got fistfuls of tickets. And many times I’ve even seen the scumbag hucksters chatting with the BPD detail officers supposedly there to arrest them.

Meanwhile, while we await the findings of the Larry Lucchino led investigation in 2002, the Red Sox only action was to set up their own scalping business online where you pay $50 and a 24% markup on unused season tickets. Problem is, there are never any tickets in the system. They're already in the hands of the online and on-street criminals. And the suckers who signed up for Red Sox replay or whatever they call it this year, are out $50 bucks. And the ugly harassment of Red Sox fans by those dirtbags controlling the tickets continued throughout the 2002, 2003 and 2004 seasons. They force their way into the lines for opening day walk-up tickets. They rent out computer classrooms to grab as many tickets as they can for online sales. As the lead card-carrying Lucchino lapdog since 2001, words cannot describe how disappointed I am regarding Larry's BS scalper investigation of 2002 and three years of doing nothing about this nightmare. Oh, but there's a new article today about how the Sox are going to crack down on scalpers for the playoffs now. Yawn. You can go on eBay right now and get Red Sox playoff tickets. They're all (scalpers, Red Sox, and BPD) in cahoots on this scam. John Henry offered more empty insight on the problem as well. From his WEEI call in from Oct. 10, 2002 "I haven't been involved. I've heard fans say thanks for getting rid of them. Larry has a crew on that." Yeah right. Three years later the loud, physically intimidating bums still control the streets and the tickets around Fenway. And families will continue to get harassed when they get near Kenmore Square. Shame on you Larry. I thought you had more guts than that.

Do you think the Red Sox do a good job cutting back on scalpers selling tickets near Fenway?

Yankee Doodle Kerry.

John Kerry, sucking up to New York Democrats at a fundraiser Monday:

"At the fundraiser, Kerry reflected on his reborn self. He praised the triple victories of the Jets, Giants and Yankees and said: 'I came here to bask in your glory, came here to grab onto that winning streak.'"

As a member of Yankee Nation wrote in "What self-respecting 'Red Sox fan' would ever be thrilled with the Yankees winning, particularly when the Yankees beat THE RED SOX in the victory he's referring to? Talk about a flip-flopper!"

Meanwhile, another emailer checks in on the Sox fan candidate:

"It's not your fault that George Bush doesn't make idiotic comments about the Red Sox. If Kerry can't get one of his lackeys to give him the info necessary to pretend to be a Sox fan, then he shouldn't say anything at all. Not to mention that on Letterman he claimed to be a great closer (as Election Day draws nearer) and said this is something the Red Sox were lacking last weekend. Well, John F, not to nitpick, but if your team gives up 9 runs in the first 2 innings, closing is clearly not the issue. Keep up the good work, DD, call 'em as you see 'em.

Sincerely, Forward Girl"

Speaking of politics, if you want a site that really mixes politics and baseball, check out my friend Allan's the Joy of Propaganda. Otherwise, why can't we all get along like the Red Sox do? A front office full of Howard Dean campaign staffers and left-handed liberals. While in the clubhouse you'll find more right-wing conservative flamethrowers than you would at a Zell Miller convention.

A player with the playas. From today's Inside Track: "And Red Sox cutie Bronson Arroyo helping P. Diddy, Naomi Campbell, Yankee Gary Sheffield, Miami Heat guard Dwayne Wade and Tyrese plow through $5,000 in booze and food during the Bernard Hopkins-Oscar De La Hoya bout at Jay-Z's 40/40 club in the Apple." (I don't think you're gonna see that table of six having dinner together at Sonsie very often...)

Playing lefty righty.

When Dick Cheney dropped an F-bomb about a month ago, there was a current events bit on this page poking fun of the Vice President. No one said boo. But whenever we reference John Kerry in a timely bit, the opinionated readers feel obliged to chime in:

"I'm begging you please, please, please, let us enjoy your site without anymore smart-alec political commentary. I am so sick of this campaign already and am completely turned-off by the negative attack ads coming from both sides. I go to Dirt Dogs to try to get AWAY from all of this BS not to read petty epithets on the candidates - we've got Fox News for that.

Please reconsider!!!!!!

Emily E. Baier"

---

"Hi there. My name is James Parkinson. I have spent time working for a sports website (fanstop.com) and I recently finished an internship with the Modesto A's (single A affiliate of the Oakland A's. I am from Boston originally, and as a die heard sox fan, I have been and avid repeat visitor of your web site with great regularity ever since the Curt Schilling acquisition. I am immensely impressed by the passionate, daily updates and hilarious headlines that make your website so colorful. Recently, you have started to post political messages on the site. The most recent one being a sports-related republican article criticizing John Kerry and Ted Kennedy's.

"I don't feel inclined to ask anyone to change their opinion, or to post ideas they do not believe in. However, I will allow my own voice to be heard. I am a very proud Democrat and a very proud Red Sox fan. Overall, the sports world is heavily dominated by those of the right wing, but I also know that progressives like myself also live and die with every Red Sox season. I love the dirtdogs, and I would hate to lose that love (especially in the heat of this pennant race) over an over-abundance of conservative viewpoints finding their way onto your website. Please consider your entire audience when you wander away from the topic of sports into other areas. Keep up the great work.

- James Parkinson"

---

"...it's best that Bush and Kerry focus on the things our country needs at this time, and if they focus entirely on that for a few days at a time without watching the latest baseball results - that's good for us - let 'em get their baseball facts mixed up from time to time and get our economy taken care of correctly and our education system and health care and national security going well also.

"I really think you owe it to people to print another viewpoint on the angry rant by the likely Bush voter. I like you guys a lot - I think you have to be fair with what you say (and what you reprint by other people in general is taken by most on your site as what you say), and you're calling a kettle black (that's really only light black in this case), when you're jet black on the same issue."

---

"Why Screw up Karma by injecting Politics on the sight??? Don’t divide the Nation."

UMass mirror. The addition of Joe Torre to the original Rear View Mirror graphic was done by graphic designer Billy Knight (all-time Home Run leader at UMass-Amherst) down in Houston, Texas. He calls home every night to find out what's going on during every Sox game.

More love from the mailbag:

Dear Dogs,

"I find it interesting that those who attempt to mediate the Nation seem to feel wearing Yankees Suck t-shirts will somehow visit bad karma on the Red Sox universe. That somehow we disgrace our very selves for expressing a perfectly natural and normal feeling, that indeed, the New York Yankees do in fact, suck. Well, they do win, that’s true. But they still suck, because they are the Yankees, and because of George and lot’s of other silly or not-so-silly reasons...

"If I feel like expressing the fact I hate the gawd damn (don’t want to offend anybody!) Yankees I am going to gawd damn well do it. And anybody who visits pseudo-judgment on me for wearing that shirt can wrestle with their own superiority complex now or later, it doesn’t make a difference to me...

Alex Klenman"

---

The few, the proud, the Red Sox Marines. Gotta love the mini Fenway replica the Cannoncockers of 3rd Battalion 11th Marine Regiment constructed at Camp Ramadi, Iraq.

Horse of a different color.

8.31.04: Let's hope our horse on the hill has a little more success than his horse on the track did yesterday. Schilling's trotter Thunder Storm, a nine-year-old gelded pacer owned by Curt, was the 5/2 morning line favorite Monday afternoon in the featured $7,000 Open Handicap Pace at Plainridge Racecourse in Plainville, MA. Trained and driven by John Podres, son of former major league pitcher and longtime Friend of Curt Johnny Podres, Thunder Storm made his Plainridge debut off an impressive 1:57.2 in his last start in a conditional event at Saratoga, August 21.

While Thunder Storm, who went off at $2.60, was in third place coming into the stretch, Schilling's trotter finished dead last in eighth place, seven lengths off the surprise winner ($7.70) Satin Time.

Smallball.

8.31.04: Steve Kettmann's new book "One Day at Fenway" is like the "24" of books as it chronicles the Red Sox experience one year ago when the Sox played the Yankees on August 30, 2004 (when a certain star player had some lingering flu-like symptoms and missed a doctor's appointment). Steve looks deep inside the personalities of the team by organizing a dozen reporters to spend the day with people from John Henry to Debi Litle. It's "Smallball" to Michael Lewis' "Moneyball." Even Billy Beane "was blown away" with how riveting this read is. "One Day at Fenway" goes on sale today in bookstores. (Boston.com gets a small % of every sale made through this page). Chat wrap: Steve Kettmann on boston.com

Capeball.

Since 1885, the Cape Cod Baseball League has been an important part of the Cape community, and for the past 40 years, it has served as a breeding ground for Major League Baseball. "Touching the Game" is the first film to tell the comprehensive story of the league and the people who make it the premier amateur baseball league in the nation. The feature length film was edited from more than 80 hours of footage, shot primarily during the summer of 2003. It chronicles college baseball players on the edge of stardom as they learn how to hit with a wood bat for the first time and watch their batting averages drop by roughly 150 points.

"You will definitely see some of the finest ballplayers in the country, but what makes the Cape Cod Baseball League really special is that it is town baseball," said Jim Carroll, producer and director of Touching the Game. "It's a sense of community that you often lose in big time professional sports." Jim Carroll chatted about the league and movie today on boston.com.

Condolences go out to Gary Tanguay of Fox Sports New England, who lost his dad Noah this week. And belated condolences to the family of longtime DJ and lifelong Red Sox fan Vinny Peruzzi who died on August 15.

Is it Pats Country or Red Sox Nation?

8.24.04: Here you go Gerry (Callahan) and John (Dennis). Never mind all the isolated TV ratings trickery and other assorted fallacies and red herrings that you use when you play this game every year. Bottom line, which team is more popular The Red Sox or the Patriots? Vote here.

I have no opinion on this other than to say it's not about the Nielsen ratings for the first televised game of the year John. Or radio listeners. Or waiting list policies on season tickets. It’s about the emotional, physical, monetary, time, passion investment over the long haul. Yankee fan Jan from Wellesley said “The Sox are like a marriage, day in day out, forever… the Patriots are like a hot date on a Saturday night.” The first game against the Eagles two weeks ago Friday night was a hot date with the Pats. I was in Foxboro. The TVs also had the Sox on, which people were following, Olympics too. Sox are in the dog days of August. People are stretching out, watching movies in the middle of games, but it doesn’t mean the Patriots own this town as you say every year.

My dad was a New York football Giants fan, not a Patriots fan growing up. Just a nouveau Pats fan like the rest of us. And we saw Jim Plunkett play at Schaefer in the early '70s. And the Super Bowl wins recently. But it’s still not the same.

My dad saw Ted William’s play his last game (seriously). My grandfather saw Babe Ruth play. And I saw Doug Griffin patrol second and hit .260 in '72.

That’s the difference.

Chicago hopes for a cure.

8.23.04 The Evening with Edes Jimmy Fundraiser was attended by about 170 Sox fans and friends in Chicago on Saturday night. It looks $20 grand was raised including a matching contribution from a willing corporate sponsor. Thanks for those who were able to make it and donate to a great cause.

Lobel as sixth starter?

8.23.04: Yesterday at mid-day, when ESPN was doing a live tease from US Cellular field featuring last night's Sox-Sox broadcast, Needham's Karl Ravech said "Freddy Garcia would be opposed by Bob Lobel." He quickly corrected himself informing the audience that the Sox starter was indeed Derek Lowe, not Lobie.

Beating Williamson with a dead horse.

8.20.04: Here we go again. Jeff Horrigan dusts off the old Schilling-Williamson tiff in today's Herald notebook:

"What happened inside the clubhouse hasn't been disclosed, but a comment made by Curt Schilling, who was in there at the time, led to an exchange of harsh words between him and Williamson. Williamson was sent back to Boston the following day, and rumors of an incident were rampant prior to the final game of the Yankees' three-game sweep.

"Schilling refused to discuss specifics of what happened, but did say: "We're grown men. There are going to be times when tension increases in this clubhouse because we're not doing well... This isn't about anybody coming in there and chewing anybody's ass out. This is about making sure the name on the front of the jersey is more important than the name on the back."

"Williamson still won't discuss what happened, but Schilling's quote infuriated him.

""When a guy says you have to play for the name on the front of your jersey and not the back, that hurts," he said. "I fight for my teammates. That's why I was trying to pitch through this."

"Williamson landed on the DL again with what was diagnosed as an impinged nerve in his right forearm, but the documented injury did not ease his hurt feelings. When asked if Schilling had apologized in any form, Williamson curtly said: "No and I didn't expect one.""

Let's get this straight for the last time. Curt NEVER questioned Williamson about the extent of his injury, his stamina, or anything related to Scott's health. Period. Steve Buckley "looks like Schilling got it wrong this time" and Sean McAdam "looks like Schilling picked a bad time to make those comments" are completely wrong in what they are assuming Schilling's private conversation with Williamson was about. Yet the misinformed opinions keep pouring out of the mainstream media on this tired subject.

As Schilling wrote himself on RedSoxNation.net back in July regarding these ongoing accusations "I never have, and never will, question a teammate being hurt, never. What you read in the papers (regarding the topic of discussion with Williamson) was false, wrong, and totally untrue."

Windy City Nation.

8.15.04: An Evening of Red Sox Baseball in Chicago with Gordon Edes to benefit The Jimmy Fund of the Dana-Farber Cancer Insitute

On Saturday, August 21st from 7:00-10:00pm, please join the Boston Globe's Gordon Edes to talk all things baseball at Jack Sullivan’s in Lincoln Park in Chicago (Jack Sullivan’s (773-549-9009), located at 2147 N. Clybourn, just south of Webster Avenue).

The cost of entry is a $20 donation, which includes three hours of unlimited beer and wine.

This evening will be a great chance to gain inside knowledge into the Red Sox in an intimate and casual setting. Everyone attending will get the chance to chat with Gordon, who will also host an open Q&A session as well as a game of Red Sox Jeopardy, where two lucky fans will get to compete for a special prize.

At the event, there will be several items up for auction/raffle. These include: • A Grand Prize Package (includes round-trip airfare tickets/hotel to a Red Sox game in Boston where Gordon will treat the lucky winners to a behind-the-scenes tour of historic Fenway Park); • A Curt Schilling model Wilson A-2000 glove; • Tickets to one of next year’s Red Sox-White Sox games at US Cellular Field in Chicago; • Autographed copies of David Halberstam’s "The Teammates" (very rare…signed by each of Pesky, Doerr, DiMaggio and Halberstam) and "Summer of ‘49"; • Other autographed memorabilia, bobbleheads, and more!

Space is limited, so email stellato@pritzkerorg.com to get your tickets now. Each ticket purchased in advance will receive one free entry into the grand prize raffle (additional entries can be purchased in advance or at the event).

Let the music do the hitting.

8.15.04: Following are some of the Red Sox hitters music selections as they step into the batter's box. Thanks to Megan over at the Ivory Tower on Yawkey Way for pulling this together for us:

Let's start with Manny as he has the most music. Some come off of his own Latino mix CDs (no titles or artists) but he has some of the following as well:

Manny Ramirez
Yeah - Usher
Encore - Jay Z
Way of Life - Lil' Wayne
Al Natural - Tego Calderon
PIMP Remix - Tego Calderon featuring 50 Cent
Damn! Pitbull Remix - Youngbloodz featuring Lil Jon, Pitbull
Ride Wit U - Joe
Cosa Buena- Tego Calderon

David Ortiz
Celebrity Overnight - Twista
All Eyez on Me - Tupac

Pokey Reese
The Rubberband Man - T.I.
Dirt Off Your Shoulder - Jay Z
Game Over- Lil' Flip and the Clover G's

Bill Mueller
Tom Sawyer - RUSH

Kevin Millar
I Stand Alone - Godsmack

Gabe Kapler
Soldier - Eminem
Method Man - Wu-Tang Clan
Freight Train - Metallica

Johnny Damon
Enemy - Sevendust

Curt Schilling
Welcome to the Jungle- Guns N Roses

Derek Lowe
Kernkraft 400 - Zombie Nation

Trot Nixon
The Game - Motorhead

Ortiz holds a smudge.

8.5.04: "Revenge served cold: Former Twin David Ortiz left a reminder of his visit with the Boston Red Sox over the weekend, in the form of an eye-black stripe around third baseman Corey Koskie's head and smudges on his face.

Ortiz, who vowed revenge on Koskie for a spring 2002 prank in which Koskie put peanut butter in Ortiz's shorts, spread the black gunk inside the band of Koskie's cap before he and the Red Sox departed Sunday. Koskie did early work on the field and at least one interview before discovering the mess."

Not so great Scott, Trot.

7.30.04: The consummate team player, Ironman Scott Williamson, started the eighth inning for the PawSox against the SkyChiefs at P&C Stadium in Syracuse last night and only lasted 1/3 of an inning. He walked three, hit a batter and gave up a bases-loaded three-run double. The good news is the guy who throws his coaches under the bus better than he throws a baseball didn't cost Theo $10 million like his PawSox counterpart BK (Bad Karma).

It's time to take a long, hard look at the Carolina conditioning program of Trot Nixon and determine what really led to his severe back and leg injuries that developed before he even set foot on a major league field in 2004. John Maynard, Trey Wyatt, and Jeremy Boone simply have to be held accountable for this disastrous off-season training regimen. The Mickey Mantle approach is obviously a better option than the Navy Seal program these guys have been putting him through in the winter. But unfortunately the horses have already left the barn as Trot's 2004 return to form remains in serious jeopardy.

Lucchinotes: Lowe hanging fruit.

7.29.04: Larry Lucchino made his weekly appearance on WEEI's Dennis and Callahan with Greg Dickerson and Michael Holley this morning and talked about the Sox trade bait, and the non-coddling of superstars:

I think Nomar is likely to be a member of the Red Sox on August 1, and I think we’re going to see a productive Nomar Garciaparra in the second half, that’s my expectation.

I actually think Derek has a history, a track record of having a productive second half and I think he has all the incentive in the world to show his teammates, to show the marketplace and to show himself what he can do. So I do think he’s going to get his act together and be helpful. Do I think it will be with this team? I think it’s possible that it will be with this team. I think that a lot of people are asking about him, a lot of people have an interest in him because he does have the history and he’s got the kind of major league stuff that attracts other teams, so I’m not going to predict whether he’s going to be here, or not be here, except my general expectation is, without more specific probabilities of departure, then the guy’s likely to stay… I do think we have to remember there are 25 different people with 25 different personalities and some guys are more sensitive to some of these trade rumor talks than others. We can’t do much about it because we do have a no-trade policy and people on other clubs know that and they can talk to us about any of our players, because they know that they’re out there and theoretically are available. But do I think Lowe… there is this notion that he is more sensitive about some of these things than others. I have no way of knowing first hand information, he’s never complained to me directly about it. I don’t know if he’s complained to anyone in the front office about it. On the contrary, he’s taken a sort of jocular approach to all this saying "well maybe I’ll be around, maybe I won’t be around, we’ll see what happens." So his comments seem to suggest that he knows that’s part of the business.

Superstar coddling: That is a much bigger issue in the media’s mind than it is in the clubhouse. I don’t there is this sense of resentment or concern on the part of the players… there are 25 different personalities… we pay the manager to manage those personalities, and some guys have to be treated with a velvet glove, some guys have to be treated with a whip hand, some guys have to be treated with a sense of humor, some guys need a set of simple rules to follow. I think it’s important that the manager recognize how he can get the most out of an individual player, and I really don’t think there is this coddling of players. There an adjustment that’s made from time to time so that players are rested, and players can perform throughout the entire season. There’s another basic premise: it’s a grind, 162 games all the travel over a long season, it’s a grind. Listen to the WEEI audio of Lucchino's interview here.

More revenue. Less sharing.

7.28.04: 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,