04.02.03 Neyer and Naysayers. "All that makes sense," you might be saying, especially if you don't live in California, "but why in the hell would you pick the Red Sox to win the World Series?"

Because I can, and because I want to.

Look, it's not really a huge stretch. ESPN.com polled 27 "experts" -- writers and editors, mostly -- and 15 of the 27 predicted that the Red Sox would either win their division (five votes) or the wild card (10). And I wasn't the only "expert" who sees the Red Sox going all the way; ESPN.com Fantasy Games guru Brandon Funston and Diamond Mind Baseball's Tom Tippett also picked the Sox. - Rob Neyer, ESPN.com

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Someone called the Red Sox bullpen the "Boston division of the Republican Guard" on The Big Show intro today. While that's a bit harsh, the sketchy relief corps is second on the minds of The Nation these days after the U.S. Marine Corps. The ubiquitous term "Closer by Committee" was uttered in Boston a record 367,875 times today.

While everyone and their grandmother in the national media is suddenly picking the Sox to win the Series this year, the tide is turning locally after Tampa's tenacious efforts the past couple of days. Even though the Sox won the Tuesday night marathon, the pen blew another save and The Nation is more than happy to accentuate the negative. Even boston.com's Insider email listed the Sox at 0-2 this morning. Pitching is a problem. Maybe Person can eventually help. Fossum and Burkett will be the big tests coming up on the starting end.

But what about the rest of the team so far? Millar is a star. The infield defense may be a little worse than advertised. Is Julio Zuleta still in Pawtucket? They could use the glove, and the right-handed bat. The outfield D may be a little better than people think as Damon chases down absolutely everything within a mile radius. But there's no speed beyond Johnny. The rest of the line-up is station-to-station at best (as I watch the Rays steal bases at will and drag-bunt infield hits... we won't see this at Fenway). The bats have been soft in general. Not everyone firing on all cylinders at the same time. Waiting for more OPS less LOBs.

It could be worse. Just ask Derek Jeter.

03.20.03 The skinny on Trot. Last October, Trot looked terrible, he went home to Wilmington, NC weighing about 194 lbs. Trot's a little emotional (derh?!) so nothing was said to him, but some were thinking "JESUS H. CHRIST! Is he sick?". 

Trot said, "F*** stealing bases, they pay some skinny-ass f***** to do that s***. I want to get big, strong and scary and hit home runs -- feel good again."

His diet was tweaked, increased protein and caloric intake in general. He did cardio, but none of that Delta Force-Sprint-'till-you-puke crap he did last year. Last year he came back to camp around 220 and 8% body fat (that's 202.4 lbs Lean Body Mass (LBM) and 17.6 lbs of other.)

This year he came back at 230lbs. 11% body fat. That's 204.7lbs of lean body mass and 25.3 of other. That's eight more pounds of fat but much more importantly, 3 lbs more muscle mass. More muscle to burn the fat, more fat to preserve the muscle for a much more powerful season.

Trot ain't fat, and he's NO slower. No worries, just wait and see. He's doubling up on his cardio and maintaining his diet, he'll be fine. Big season coming, he'll shut people up.

01.16.03 The kids are alright.  The kid burst on stage with his '59 French sunburst Les Paul, singing the lead for the rockabilly riff "Keep On Rockin'". And the whole joint got rockin’ quick. He was the bomb on lead guitar, and lead vocals. Who knew the boy could sing? He turned it up a notch before it even started. And by his second song he was knee-deep in a rousing guitar solo. Boy Wonder was on fire… it was The House of Gammons, Peter can play. And PG was funny, humble, and a great host all night long.

“There are three addresses I know off the top of my head… 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, 24 Lansdowne Street, now Yawkey Way, and 2120 South Michigan Ave., the home of Bo Diddley” winded the gasbag. For their second and last song, Gammo’s band busted into a Chuck Berry rendition of “Route 66” with Peter taking the lead again, mesmerizing the packed Paradise... the Fenway Park of rock clubs, complete with three giant poles in the middle of the floor for that obstructed view feel.

Spoke briefly with Theo and his brother Paul, who may be the nicest guy on the planet, before the GM's weekend band Trauser went on next. As you may have seen on the news, he was decked out in a gray/black stocking cap for a while and was sporting a checkered gray-flannel shirt. You’d never know he was the GM for the Red Sox. He was having a good time, relaxed and kicking back with his homies, the antithesis of just-down-the-road at ‘The Whineys’ Dan Duquette. Other local luminaries in the crowd included Debbie Wrobleski taking tickets at the door (no she doesn’t remember my two-hour, three-drink courtship at Joe’s six years ago apparently), Joe Amorosino, Jeff Horrigan, Don “young Sinatra” Orsillo… and those were just the heavy hitters.

ESPN’s Rich Eisen, who is a rock solid poor man’s Chris Rock as the lead comedian… funny guy, Karl Ravech of Needham fame, and Gammons took the stage, razzing each other. Eisen was a riot joking about people sending Gammons $20 bills (as he’s a dead ringer for Andrew Jackson). They read a few written questions from the crowd “should Gammons replace Selig as Commissioner?” Ravech yelled out “screw Colon.” Theo came up on stage, Eisner read message from 'Death Star' “how’s the air up there?” Theo said “Ask Lucchino.” Lots of jokes thrown PG's way "is there a Peter Gammons fantasy camp? PG: Yeah, you log on and off all day", but also many items up for bid including "sit with John Henry for a Yankee game" prizes up for raffle.

“How did you come up with the name Trouser (or is it Trauser)?... is next album going to be “inside the beltway?”  Theo “unzipped.” Actually, the name came from "an inside joke" between Theo and his sister.

Gammons: “On ESPN, we hate closers blowing games because we have to stay on and wait. Rob Nenn is responsible for more 3:30am games than any man in history.” More Gammons: “you have to get to October, then anything can happen… and waxing nostalgic "you can only be young once but you can always be immature.”

Trouser came on at 9:20pm “on the same stage where U2 began 20 years ago” as PG introduced them. Theo played lead with a Hendrix/Clapton like blond Strat with a rosewood fingerboard, no Papa Roach Schecter for this young man, he’s a purist. His mesa boogie amp was on top of a Marshall cabinet, but he could have been playing from the Fender amp right next to it. Lead singer Tara Love (no relation to Courtney) started it off with “I am mine,” a new song from Pearl Jam. She hit all her high notes. Trouser followed it up with Neil Young’s  “Keep On Rockin’ in the free world.” Gammons called Theo “Iglasias General Manager” as his hat get-up made him look like Enrique Iglesias.

“The Gentlemen” came up next, sort of a Del Fuego’s sound, good stuff ending with the ballad “Pussywhipped” by the Dogmatics. I think we missed American Hi-Fi.

Wake, Fossum, Johnny Damon, in-shape, looking good with some wild-ass hair, all came onstage. Todd Walker spoke “heard you haven’t won the World Series in a few years?.... &%#! That, we’ll win the World Series this year.” Fossum was funny when asked about possibility of being traded all winter: “Every time I saw that 615 area code, I got nervous.” Naturally everyone yelled out “it’s 617!” Someone behind me said “he looks like the white Can.” Fossum weighing 163 says “I eat all I can but can’t gain weight… my wife is jealous.” Gammons said “We’re all happy he’s still here.”

(And most importantly, a lot of money was raised for the Jimmy Fund as Boston continues to lead the way in curing cancer in children. Go to www.jimmyfund.org to join the fight.)

Addendum: Kieran fills in the blanks as the 6:00am wake-up call cause a 11:00pm exit:

I spoke with Theo, very cool guy, comfortable in his skin, and he was certainly rockin' out on stage.

The signed Petey jersey went for $325!!

I thought you would've mentioned Johnny D's onstage antics. Let's just say he's in shape.....And I wonder if Wakes is feeling good this morning? He had some good pipes, though, on the closing tune of the night, Cheap Trick's "Surrender".

Top night all round, it sold out a few hours before the show. Next year will be bigger I expect and it might start to lose its intimate feel.

01.09.03:  Going gets tough.  D-Day: "War's over, man. Omar dropped the big one.

Theo: What? Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when Gammons bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
Otter: Gammons?
Boon: Forget it, he's rolling.
Theo: And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the going gets tough . . . the tough get going. Who's with me? Let's Go! Come on! AAAAEEEEEGGGHHHH!!

Theo is a smart guy...we KNOW you are, Theo. You don't have to schedule press conference calls, or go on nitwit radio, or internet chats, etc to tell us. Just do the job you're getting paid to do. And keep your mouth shut.

Part of the problem with exceptionally bright and talented, yet still immature, people is that they've got to tell everyone exactly how smart they are. Let everyone in on their new strategy, and how Bill James is on board, etc...

How about a couple of quotes?:

1. "It's what you learn after you know it all that counts" - Earl Weaver

2. "Never tell anyone outside the family what you're thinking" - Vito Corleone

An example just today: I read this morning Red Sox Dirt Dog's transcript of Theo's interview, and I just about pooped my pants. In response to a question about "the most overrated hitting statistic", he promptly responded " batting average."

Let me see now...you're up to your ass trying to get somebody to take the AL's #1 3B in batting average in 2002(!!!) off of your hands, (not to mention he's also the leader in ABs, Hits, 2Bs, and 2nd in TBs), and you just can't seem to get it done? Maybe because anybody who's ever listened to you and your cohort Bill James knows that the Shea you're trading is the guy who only walked 25 times, has a crappy OBP, and so you don't think very much of him, and are gonna dump him anyway.

Meanwhile, isn't it funny that Mueller's agent makes a beeline to your door, and bends you over the table to the tune of $4.5M for 2 years, because he knows how much you value the only offensive commodity his client maintains?

But Theo, you're smart, you're our guy, and you're gonna learn. Now, get out there, and earn some respect. Make someone afraid of you. You need to really make some people pay big time for this. Start by playing hardball. Make waiver claims on quality people. Jump into Omar's pending trades now and start showing some interest with those other clubs. Cut him off at the kneecaps, just because you can. God knows, that piece of &#%! has it coming to him, and good. Then, feast heartily on his entrails.

Who knows, maybe then you'll get Willie Mac to cower in fear about you someday. - Caroll Hardy  

Will's Way

Met Will once. My friend's brother-in-law sang the national anthem at the Pats-Colts game during the Super Bowl drive in '96. Part of the deal was having the opportunity to come to the private brunch in Bob Kraft's office before the game... guys like old man Shaughnessy, not Dan, but the guy with the construction company, and other corporate guys milling about. So in walks Will McDonough, and he strolls over to the buffet, where I'm naturally hanging out, next thing you know my friend, McDonough, Kraft, and I are talking about Parcells, the game strategy, Chuck Fairbanks for 10 minutes that seemed like 10 seconds. He did make you feel like you were as important as Pete Rozelle in a football discussion. Unlike some other top dog writers in Boston who won't even look you in the eye on the street. Will was the real deal. And Ryan said he would have come around on Lucchino eventually.

01.04.03: Lucchino shows him who's boss.  Special from Caroll Hardy "Your Turn" - Three cheers for LL! Since when did Will Mac become the Cowardly Lion? He wants the Red Sox to bring in someone "..hopefully, that someone would be smart enough not to challenge Steinbrenner." Memo to WM: Drop dead, old man. go watch your stinking nfl.

LL is not afraid of Steinbrenner. And he shouldn't be. No, I think that "Evil Empire" PR shot skillfully fired across the Boss' bow will serve to demonize the MFYs throughout MLB should they meddle in l'affaire Colon/Vazquez. Giving Theo a free hand to stretch this thing as long as required to work the best deal possible. And with the acquisition of Colon/Vazquez to cap off the rest of the 2002-2003 off-season, the MFYs will be facing the 1984 Tigers in 2003. And let's give credit where credit is due: to the great work done by Theo and the new regime finishing up the similar great work started by the DD regime in locking up our nucleus through 2004.

And let the Boss get furious. What's he gonna do? Jump in and sign everybody? Fire Archibald Cox? And the rest of MLB is going to sit by idly? I don't think so.

LL knows exactly what he's doing and is serving notice to the Boss and MLB that unlike Harrington, et.al, they aren't going to take this lying down. Never underestimate those old school EBW/ Williams and Connolly guys. They are masters of public relations and hardball Washington politics, and they practically (if not actually) invented "spin control" and the art of demonizing your enemy. LL served with HRC and Bernie Nussbaum on the old House Impeachment Committee staff, so I bet their mutual animosity goes way beyond baseball. LL's survived cancer, and he's survived Nixon. I really don't think he worries about King George III.

11.25.02:  A young man's game.  If Theo Epstein doesn't back out before the press conference for any "personal" reasons, he'll be calling the shots as Boston Red Sox GM for the foreseeable future, maybe the next 30 years. And yes Larry Lucchino will be there every step of the way. Along with John Henry, Bill James, and a host of new advisors. Most of Red Sox Nation applaud this move and are ready to give the local kid a shot. Or maybe they're just glad to have this knock-down, drag-out process over with.

For those who say Theo is too young for the job, I'm reminded of the guy who made the computer I type on now, Michael Dell. Since founding his Austin, Texas-based company in 1984 as a 19-year-old dropout from the University of Texas, Dell heard no shortage of experts explain why the sky was about to come crashing down on top of him -- starting with the stock market collapse of 1987, which hit just as he was preparing to take the business public. A company of less than $8 billion at the time, the PC maker grew to finish 2001 with $32 billion in sales. Just one example of someone who hit their prime before their time. If there is a key to Michael Dell's success, it is his ability to make the right decision at the right time -- and often, that decision is to do nothing at all. Hopefully Theo shows some patience with the current Red Sox, who seem to be only a few players away.

And what will Theo do with Grady? Nothing. Although if he had his druthers, he'd probably make a switch if there was a viable candidate out there, but Theo has already spouted the "our manager won 93 games" party line. So we might as well get behind Grady now and hope he learned a thing or two from the pack-it-in, mail-it-in early, there's-always-tomorrow 2002 debacle.

And what will Theo do with the millions saved by hiring him in lieu of Billy Beane? Spend it on a brand new first baseman? Try to replace Burkett? Get a new closer? Hopefully all of the above. Time to put the hot stove on the front burner.

10.9.02: Grady and the New GM.  You've got a better chance of seeing Lou Gorman return than you do of Larry Lucchino admitting that after a worldwide search the best candidate for the plum GM job is one of Dan Duquette's two assistant GM's, Mike Port. Carve it in stone, he's not it even though I like Mike too. Same for Tim Naehring, please, Theo was running circles around him ten years ago. Gene Michael?!? We're dusting off old Yankee managers now?  Well then let's just bring in Zim to replace Grady while we're at it. And forget Omar Minaya.

The GM decision is all about how much power Larry is willing to relinquish, and how quickly he wants Theo at the top, three years or five. That's why he's out west stalking Beane right now.

The idea of a GM picking his own manager started going out the window when Lucchino gave Grady a two year deal. It would have been perfectly reasonable at the time to only give him one year based on the fact that they publicly said they would name a permanent GM at the end of one year. Grady would have understood that, it would not have been an embarrassment to only give him one year IMHO, considering the unique circumstances. Because now Lucchino uses "we have a manager under contract for 2003" as one of his bullet points on 'why we're supposed to keep Grady' PowerPoint presentation.

Yes there is another car waiting for the media member who can write the most ridiculous Grady Must Stay column. Right now, Michael Holley remains way out if front, but he doesn't want a free Thunderbird convertible either.

If either Mike Port or Theo Epstein were the GM, and could make their decisions without ramification from Lucchino/Henry, both would choose to fire Grady.

Another piece of double-talk going on was that when Grady was hired, we were sold on the fact that he 'managed thousands of games in the minor leagues' he wasn't just a minor league guy, he was Mr. Award Winning Minor League Guy and we should be happy to get him because he's seen every possible game situation and will seamlessly be able to inject this game management expertise to the big club.

Never happened. As you know, Grady was outfoxed, outmatched, outwitted, outplayed in every situation where it mattered, all year long. Pitchers warming up two batters too late, the tail runner pinch runner backfires, wrong guys resting on wrong days and guys that need rest burning out, using Embree and Howry in blowouts and getting blown out when the needed them, not knowing platoon splits resulting in splitting headaches for the astute members of RSN on SoSH.

Notice the suck up media and H/W/L don't say boo about Grady's ability to manage games now... no, the smokescreen is about 'his ability to keep Manny focused on his batting title,' 'he never got to pick his own bullpen coach.' Holley: 'he's overpaid his dues,' 'he won 93 games in his first year as manager,' and the best flip-flop: 'he's a first year manager you know.' HAAAAA what a joke. I thought he was Mr. Field General from all those minor league wins and BA awards?

Regarding off-season moves, they'll sign Floyd, put him in left, Manny will mostly DH, they keep Nixon in right. Acquire pitchers by hook and crook. Then get a big gun firstbaseman. That will be it. If someone has to be traded for a decent pitcher, it's Shea. Varitek could be part of a package with Shea if a catcher and the right pitcher came back.

I sat behind the dugout his last game against the Yankees in '96, tears welled up in my eyes when they played 'Rocket Man' when he came in from the bullpen... but we gave it to him good all game long for leaving town as we knew he would, The Texas Con Man, quit against the Mets, let Dave Stewart eat his lunch through the 90's, sandbagged Hobson, got fat here for four years, poisoned the atmosphere, selfish lying dirty rotten MFY bastard....

Bring him back. No question.

9.18.02:  Thanks for the memories?  No more Nomar? Say it ain't so. Here's saying Nomar gets a rousing standing-O tonight and clears the air with the fans once he chills out. Am I still bummed at him for being so smug in July about 'having plenty of time,' the 'little leaguers' BS, and the steroids 'false positive' crap? Yes. Do I wish he would dive for balls and get his uniform dirty every once in while? Yes. But I'm not ready to advocate trading him for overreacting in The Year to be Jeered.

Is this a lousy town to play in? You'd have to ask them. But I was at The Rack last night for a friend's CD release party when Carlos Baerga walked in and I almost got a bear hug myself. Rey Sanchez said thanks and shook my hand after I told him "great game tonight Rey." And Doug Mirabelli came in and mingled easily with the patrons as well. They had a great time as they usually do with about 200 fans in the house, peacefully co-existing even though the Red Sox are not going to be playing this fall for the third year in a row. No one jeered or hassled the guys in public. We're not a bunch of A-holes as some people would have you believe.

Secret to the Tim Wakefield turnaround? Like with most of us out there... a good woman. Tim's lovely and smart fiancé Stacy Stover started whooping his soft-in-the-middle body into shape about two years ago. "Get up, we're going running." Red Sox Nation thanks you Stacy :-).  Now let's sign Tim up for a three year extension.

Grady on putting the Sea Dogs out there for $60 a seat Tuesday night: "There was a long time without any off days... some guys are running on fumes. I thought that was the best thing to do. You get to a point where we've been, playing hard... you run a big risk of injury... it's tough... they've been working real hard since September 1st..." Oh, thanks for telling me now that they started playing hard on September 1st, I could have saved a lot of time and money. See you in Portland Mr. Little.

And no Larry Lucchino was not happy about all the negative calls that came in to NESN about the 30-year-old-minor-leaguer-line-up and the perception that they mailed it in for the paying public Monday night.  But as Jimy Williams might say "the horses have already left the barn." 

9.17.02:  The Year to Drink Beer?   I'm still a little emotional after watching "The Corsi Years" on NESN last Sunday. What a story... what a story. I wonder if the other six people who watched are still teary-eyed?  Oh and belated happy birthday Corsino.

Don't get too excited if you've been asked to put in your two cents on Fenway Park via an "email conference" today. Chances are your feedback will fall on deaf ears. Example: Popped down to the Player's Club after a Sox game a couple of Sundays ago. I was watching the end of the Buffalo-Jets game with Larry Johnson and a friend of mine. Big beautiful television. And we had a table and seats right in front. The rest of our crew was across the street at Atlas but I was going to get people back to the Players' Club to watch the 4:00 game as it was a decent set-up for football. Went up to get a couple of Buds, and it was something like $14.00 for two beers with tip. When I asked the bartenders what the deal was with mortgaging your house for a brew, they said "we've told them upstairs that the beer prices are too high and no one will stay here... but they just won't listen." Very scary. The bartenders go home empty handed, and eight people drink beers for the next three hours elsewhere. File under penny wise, pound foolish.

Is Manny ever going to speak to the fans again?  I'm done waiting for the apology for not running out the ball. 

I was sitting with a Stonington, CT police officer and his girlfriend last Friday behind the Sox dugout (yes I had the big ass American flag).  When the game went south faster than Grady Little on September 30th, the catcalls and chants began. When our police officer yelled "I didn't pay $60 dollars to see this!" Rodrigo S., the friendly Fenway ambassador/usher, stood up and said "Would you keep it down." No, we're not keeping it down, we're fed up.

Hey Grady, was it still too "loud" for anyone to hear anything last night (this guy missed his calling, should have been a defense attorney)?  Grady also says lots of guys fly home during season, he would too, and would like to play with his grandchildren.  Please fly home to see your grandchildren and accept the Portland assignment for next year. Water would then seek its own level.

When the fans wanted to know what happened with Manny's check swing u-turn, the reporters went into the clubhouse to ask our questions.  When Rey 'Dirty Pool' Sanchez saw the reporters coming, he said to Manny in Spanish "just tell them you don't know what they're talking about."  What Rey didn't know was that Bob Hohler speaks Spanish.  And now we know the depth of the deceit that has poisoned the Friendly Fenway Clubhouse.

Is it all still Rich Garces' fault?  And is this still Dan Duquette's team?

Un-Amannycan?  When John Dennis was ranting about Manny on September 12th at 6:15am, it nearly knocked me out of bed. I thought he was going to be talking about his big, clutch home run the night before, but John was furious at Manny's tardiness at getting to the top step to salute the country on its most solemn day, the country that pays him $160M beans.  And Manny's mindless walk three feet ahead of his firefighter partner set him off as well.  Over the top by John? Maybe. Manny evil? No. Sick of his crap? Yes. But in all fairness to Mr. Dennis, there were three or four calls that followed from people who were equally as outraged. One veteran shouted out "There is not a man on that team!"  Ouch.

Wonder is NESN will rebroadcast the ceremony to exonerate Manny?  Don't hold your breath.

Tom Daley is the coach of the Worcester Little League team, Jesse Burkett All-Stars.  When the team took the field at Fenway a couple of weeks ago, his son had to walk out to left field alone. Apparently Manny was busy still fishing through his CD collections. When Tom tried to cheer up his son by saying "hey you had the whole left field to yourself, wasn't that great?" His son replied "dad... I felt stupid."  File under: Superstar Stupid Time. Nice work Manny.

Grady said not benching Manny on the spot was "the worst mistake I've ever made as a manager."  No kidding.  Now go play with your grandkids Grady.  They miss you.  We won't.

9.10.02:  "Wait 'till next year."  Those were the words of a high-ranking Red Sox official when asked last week if they could possibly rip off 15 in a row and get right back in the race.  But he wasn't talking about the cliché, he actually meant "wait 'till next year." Translation: "we're going for it next year, the Boston Red Sox are not going to be 'rebuilding' in 2003." Good news, especially for the grandfathers of Red Sox Nation.

In other tidbits, shared on the condition of anonymity, the "interim" General Manager is just that. I like Mike, but Beane or Riccardi and Macha or Showalter is the right thing to do for the franchise. When asked if Grady's contract was two years with an option, the answer was "it doesn't matter." Translation: they'll eat the short dough, this experiment is over.

"And why are your friends (on SoSH) still in love with Dan Duquette? Don't they realize that this guy had eight years, unlimited resources, and yet was only able to win one playoff series?"  My answer, "they are not my friends." And yes, they are reading, sometimes.

Regarding first base, admittedly "that position killed us." When asked if Big Juan Diaz might have a shot next year: "he can't play, is not in our plans, we can do much better."  Of all the free agents Alan Embree is the top priority to get resigned, and it should happen as Urbina is long gone and hard to find like most of his clutch pitches this season.

And if you think you can trade John Boycott Burkett for a bag of balls, apparently "it's not that easy."

After Friday night's game, Cliff Floyd pulled his Mercedes (with a couple of hotties inside) into the Texaco on Boylston Street and actually got out to pump his own gas. Who does this? Supposedly Jeff Kemp is the only other major leaguer who does. But what was great was that Cliff was actually signing autographs and chatting with a bunch of kids while filling his tank. Just for fun, a bunch of us sitting at the corner of the Red Sox dugout were yelling "Pump Your Own Gas Cliff" after his home run on Sunday. He seemed to get a kick out of it. And here's hoping he re-signs here for the right amount (yes we do care about Cliff as we understand his comments on the pressure of Boston were taken out of context). He plays, runs, and hits everything hard, even though he is hurting badly.  We could use more guys like that, especially if he's willing to play for $6-7 milion.

Other chants heard at the park over the weekend included "Bentley" when Rey Sanchez stepped up to the plate and "There Goes Another 25 Grand" when Mannyjuana struck out with the game on the line.

"Phony Clark Your Cell Phone is Ringing" was another crowd pleaser during halftime... err the fifth inning. Yes more people were watching or listening to the Buffalo/Jets game than were paying attention to the disaster on the field as Going, Going, Gomes turned into Willie Outer Banks seamlessly. And hey Phony, when the phone don't ring, that's your next $5 million major league contract on the other end.

The Herald's Tony Mazz said on The Zone that "the Red Sox don't want it as much as the other teams." If that's the case, and the evidence doesn't show otherwise, it's the ultimate insult to Red Sox Nation.

$27.00. The cost of two beers and two El Tiante ham sandwiches (with pickle) at the new Yawkey Way concourse. Good news is you can now go down to 'Who's on First' during the game and do a couple of shots of Jägermeister to wash away the pain.

The police, working closely with MLB, busted a 'Yankees Suck' t-shirt factory last week, confiscating 30,000 shirts and two printing machines (will they please come and take a few "It's a Whole New Ballgame" shirts off our back as well?)

Rumor has it some of the old-line Globie scribes are not so enamored with 'Hench's Corner.' in the Sunday Notes column. I'm shocked that these well-known pompous asses would object to some new blood, and more importantly, some new style and brutal honesty invading their oh-so-sacred turf.

The vast majority of the Red Sox minor leaguers are slow and fat (much like the Dan Duquette years). Expect some changes in the strength and conditioning program and personnel asap.

Anybody going on the Red Sox cruise with Grady and "others" in January? Supposedly it leaves from Southhampton England and will cruise the arctic waters of the Atlantic. Hmmm.

9.4.02:  I'm ready for Freddy.  Who is Rey banjo-bat Sanchez not to speak to the fans who foot the bill for his $300,000 Bentley after he blows a routine double play at the most critical point in this season? That's Dirty pool in these parts. Hey Rey, don't plan on shipping your Arnage T next time the union gets tough, just drive it out of town. Let the Freddy Sanchez Era begin tonight.

I was all set to settle into the big eighth inning comeback last night when the MoneyManny steps up and tries to pull a low and away first pitch with a home run free swing, head flying, with the tying run on second.  That's "Manny being Manny" again, with the obligatory shuffle to first, barely entering the camera frame as the easy double play was completed. One more time with those OPS numbers?

Things to do on Thursday:  I'm busy working on my six rows deep by 12 seats wide sign "Hey Bags-are-Packed Burkett, Buy a One-Way Ticket to Texas Next Time."  Why does Grady think it's a good idea for Bad-News-Beer-Belly-Boy to ever pitch at Fenway again in this lifetime as a member of the Red Sox?  Hopefully Theo is scouting out any possible takers for BoycottBoy as I type.

Of all the post-strike-threat finger-pointing and blow-up quotes, this one may be the most telling: ''here, a lot of guys make a lot of money and everybody does their thing,'' as Cliff Floyd said last week. ''Different strokes for different folks.''  And 25 guys, 25 tabs again. And Floyd will probably fly the free-agent coop. Do we even care what Cliff does? 

Is he Dodger blue? The fact that Nomie "I know my first-pitch average... but don't pay attention to that stuff" is thinking of pulling a Mo Vaughn on us shouldn't surprise anyone.  I'll never forget seeing Nomar on "Extra Innings" on July 26th smirking at those who were concerned saying "pffft, it's July... and people are talking about this... is it July?."  No Nomar, sadly it's September, and we're no longer concerned.

Going, going, Gomes? Last night? A Little much don't you think Grampy? Howry waiting for "tomorrow's" game?  Embree getting ready for '03?  Do you even know you're 5-1/2 back on September 4th?  The Angels with Appier going against Tampa are poised to go 30 games over .500 tonight. And the locker room cuts continue to contain "we'll get 'em tomorrow's."  ...Go Pats, Crush Steelers!

"Malaise," "Inertia," "Flaccid," "Solemn."  These are the words I've heard to describe the 2002 crew, hardly "The Year to be Here."  Know this NESN friends, The Nation can no longer bear to watch one more TYtbH commercial, especially the "...we're gonna wii-iin" ad. Give me the old bag in the parking lot all day long if you have to. Is the "Big Three" spot still in the mix?

The Red Sox rang the opening bell at the AMEX yesterday morning... the market proceeded to tumble over 350 points en route to its biggest drop in a year.  'Nuff said.

Oh and New York won the media/staff softball game against Boston last week too.  Yankee GM Brian Cashman hit a three-run double to win it for the bad guys.  In other news, Dan Duquette was hanging out just north of the border at "Water Country" in Portsmouth, NH a couple of Friday afternoons ago (again, water seeks its own level :-).

Unfortunately "Rolls Rey" Sanchez doesn't make that play "10 out of 10 times" to be perfectly Frank.

Tony C's hottie daughter said on WBZ's Sports Final: "what we don't know is all the 'ins and outs' of what took place back then"... I would say it was all the 'ins and outs' that started this whole thing to begin with (bada-boom).

Something to chew on: Trot's tobacco cheek is growing to the size of that "second-evil-head" in the Mike's Hard Lemonade commercials.

Is Tony "Mr. Steinbrenner has done an outstanding job with the Yankees and he continues to be successful" Clark still here (like the Seinfeld episode when George quits his job but shows up at the Monday morning meeting)?  I'm seriously starting to get tired of his act (and tired of my Strike on Sleep 'till he's Swept out of Town). Let him go, praise the Lord, Fehr the Cartel, whatever Phony... just take the last couple of checks and go already.

8.25.02:  The Hunt for Red Sox October.  There goes the three-game winning "streak" as Nomar Garciapopup was in full (first pitch) swing in the ninth yesterday.  But it was good to see a little Paul O'Neill on the way back into the dugout by our refocused shortstop, and right on the heels of his F-bomb laden pep talk on Wednesday.

For those who can fill my hard drive with Manny's OPS numbers for any split imaginable, I continue to see a guy who has the talent to break some random Ted Williams' consecutive on-base records but yesterday flies out in the sixth and grounds out to the pitcher in the ninth with the close game on the line.  Meanwhile, Jason Giambi is hitting seventh-inning game winning home runs in low scoring affairs (NY-3 Texas-2 yesterday).

The Dog Days of Bummer: nothing makes me feel worse than knowing David Wells was right all along.

Holy Cow! (was the little play on words by-the-by).  Speaking of "Bye...Bye...Bye," Everett was on 1510 The Zone with Mike Wallace, a.k.a. Debbie Wrobleski (who I attempted to ask out back when Kevin Kennedy was manager) on Thursday. Carl called Boston fans "boring and unoriginal for booing me... they don't have much to say because I play well... (last year) was one of the worst clubhouses in baseball with no leaders on that team until Carlos Baerga and Rickey Henderson came on board this year... I was the only one who would speak up for other players... I say what I feel, not what's popular... until the fans relax and the media stops being jerks, Boston's not going to win anything... the media adores some guys but I never threatened to "kick the scorekeeper's ass' like some other players' did."  That's The Truth's story and his sticking to it (you need your head examined if you believe one word this fraud says).

In John Tomase's Lawrence Eagle Trib column on Carl (Captain Kook Strikes Back), The Excuse plays the race card and the tired "you know Boston" as his latest reasons for being a pathetic failure here. And according to John "he was just starting to get into the whole race thing when his cell phone rang and ruined the interview. Damn 21st century technology."

Clemens was on David Letterman Wednesday night, where he said: "We have a boss 'Mr. Steinbrenner' that wants us to be in the World Series... so we have to get there again, that's what I like about being in New York."  Who do the Red Sox fear if they don't get into the World Series? John Henry? Lucky (damn right)? Mr. Little?

More of Rockhead and Dave: DL: (I hate management, believe me....) But can you explain this strike to us, what is the reason the players would strike? RC: (the players) make it fun for the fans, we don't want to strike, we set the date so we could find a medium point... Mr. Torre has us concentrating on what's going on in the field. DL: Do you always call him Mr. Torre?  RC: Well, when I'm not pitching well it's Mr. Torre, if I'm goin' good it's 'Skip.'  DL: So what are the key issues here for those of us not really following this? RC: The revenue sharing is good.The luxury tax is the sticky point. DL: Will there be a strike? RC: I say it will not happen (crowd applause).  Oh yeah, sure, let's bring the bum back next year so he can pass Cy Young in Red Sox wins.

I posted it to a popular Red Sox discussion board after the devastating loss on Tuesday night to Texas: "After last night's debacle and this team now officially as lifeless as it's been since the mid-60's, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the 2002 version of the Boston Red Sox will make a resurgence starting tonight and sail into the playoffs as the AL League Wild Card team."  How's that for a glass-is-so-full-it's-spilling-a-flood-on-my-kitchen-floor outlook?

File this one under 'In the Doghouse and in Gilligan's Island Quicksand Up to his Chest':  Gerry Callahan asked Larry Lucchino "has Tony Clark's role with Player's Association contributed to the lack of success he's had with the Red Sox this year?  Larry answered "here's something I never use on this program, 'no comment.'  GC: "but it's not in your contract to say 'no comment' with us."  Larry: "alright then... "No Commento."  Ouch. Say goodbye to the $5 million slowest swing in baseball. And praise the Lord.

I sat next to Jim Fregosi for Pedro's effort on Friday night. He's a roving scout for the Atlanta Braves and was at Fenway looking at the Angels, particularly Jarrod Washburn their outstanding lefty starter. They may try to pick him up in a trade if they lose Glavin or Maddux this off-season.  Atlanta sure knows how to keep it going.

Speaking of "I Like the Way You Do It," on Friday Grady said "these jobs and these seasons are going to come and go with the Red Sox."  Be careful what you wish for Gramps. Seriously, he was talking about baseball in comparison to what the Red Sox and WEEI did on Friday, raise over $350,000 for cancer research. I was remiss in not linking to The Jimmy Fund during WEEI's recent radiothon.  Like Larry Lucchino, I have highly personal reasons for supporting Dana-Farber (having raised over $16,000 by running two Boston Marathons myself).  Please donate if your economic situation is not in such dire straights that you'd have to consider striking from your day job.

8.21.02:  Where's our Paul O'Neill?

"When he saw Jeter and A-Rod laughing it up on the field during a game in Yankee Stadium he would run up and get right in Jeter's face and let him know that this bull#&%! would not be tolerated... not on this field, not while he's playing.... how Red Sox fans can continue to cheer these frauds is beyond me."  Those are the comforting words of one of my oldest friends who just happens to have pinstripe-colored blood (among other things) running through his veins.  Z-man-the-Yankee-fan loves Paul O'Neill, the "heart and soul" of the Bronx Bombers, and the brand of baseball he forced on his team.  Even though O'Neill is up in the broadcast booth now, the tone he set in 1993 remains with the Yankees, just as it did when Mattingly stepped down and O'Neill took the torch.  It was all about winning, and O'Neill was dead serious about it.  Chuck your helmet after popping out. Toss the bat after taking strike three. Smashing a paper cup against the dugout floor after hitting into a double play. That's quintessential Paul O'Neill.  He had the "fire" that the Red Sox have been looking for all season, the "sense of urgency" which are now the watchwords of the day. Where's our Paul O'Neill?

Funny line dropped by an 'EEI caller this morning: "The Red Sox bullpen is shakier than Michael J. Fox giving Mohammed Ali a piggy-back ride."

Dustin Hurtmanson is hoping the Sox pick up his $7.5 million option for next season.  Insanity reaches a fever pitch.  Sure Dustin, let's say $1 million, laden with incentives? Or better yet, why don't you just play for this year's money next year since you didn't earn it? Sorry Bulldog, "sorry" doesn't cut it in these parts anymore.

The mood of The Nation has never been nastier.  When people are longing for the days of Mike Lansing and Dante Bitchette, you know you got trouble Larry.  Some people are calling this the least likable team they've ever seen. And I have a hard time arguing against that.

How are our player's reps doing these days?  Well, team-rep Johnny Damon is all set to play in a beer league in Florida.  Funny, I would have thought he'd be focused on working as hard as he can to stop this strike and wouldn't rest until our National Pastime is saved from permanent death.  Oh but we've AL-rep Tony Clark to take care of that.  He, who stole $5 million right out from under Duke's nose, has the gall to speak about labor relations.  If the guy had put half the energy into his swing that he puts into the Union and his hairstyles, he might be hitting .230 with five home runs today.  Wouldn't you just love to see him get cut in September?

Burkett has already given the Bitchette "hey if we don't win, we'll go home and watch football just like you" speech.  Wonderful.  Can we boycott the second year of his contract?  The second the guy opened his big boycott mouth, it was over.

Nomar, who had a stranglehold on the number one spot for years, would not even crack the top 10 of most popular athletes in Boston right now.  My how far his star has fallen.  Mr. even-keel has run aground.  Let's just hope the food table is in tact.

During my weekend hiatus from this train wreck formerly known as "The Year to Be Here" (Note to NESN: pull those new ads with the players getting all fired up for the camera stat, it's not what anyone needs to see right now) I had the pleasure of going down to The Razor to welcome the Pats back.  Sat 30 rows from the new field, beautiful sightlines, stadium is as advertised.  My only regrets: the $6.00 Buds and the fact that they were out of tartar sauce for the $8.00 fried clam strips (was hoping for bellies) before the game even started.  Otherwise, Gillette Stadium is the best little bargain in town (sarcasm). 

Hey at least down there the team is greater than the sum of its parts. This team has just fallen apart.

8.16.02:  Adding insult to injury.  My Cambridge Racquet & Fitness Club's softball team's season ended last night too. The Mass State Police team, complete with cops who were dead "ringers" for Johnny Val, Jim Thome, and the Green Mile guy, beat us 7-5. But we played with a hell of a lot more heart and fire than a certain other more highly-paid unit that I follow.  For one, I played the full game in the field with a three-week-old torn calf, that's what you do in playoff Softball.  Unfortunately it's one game and out. So it's over. Plenty of time for rehab now.

The play-by-play from the last of Nomar's five first-swing atbats last night: "...somehow Nomar is up there on a 1-1 pitch...here's the pitch, ball bounces twice, 11 feet outside, Garciapopup checks his swing... the one-two pitch, bounces in the dirt, Nomar somehow holds back... the two-two, a mile outside, Nomar again shows the Patience of Job... the three-two pitch, line fly right to right. Ho-hum... Breaking News: Locker Room Uncut.... Nomar says "nobody's getting down in this clubhouse... we battled out there all night... we'll get dressed and get back out there tomorrow"... Whew!  For a minute there I was worried.

Along with 70,000 other Red Sox fans, I will be sitting in a sweet spot at the grand opening of Gillette Stadium on Saturday night to welcome the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots back home (a shiver of gargantuan proportions just ran down Larry Lucchino's spine). A team, with heart, that wins. Imagine that.

So yesterday morning I was updating the Globe link and did a quick scan of the 'On baseball' column. The beginning was about palm trees being moved out of the Safeco outfield and I saw some mentions of the Sox tendencies to be on the wrong side of blowouts, Baerga recruiting Pineiro for his winter team, and the Sox failure to get a streak going. I posted the "Uprooting Interest" headline like the Globe had.  Fifteen minutes later I was sitting in a barber's chair in Oak Square reading a printed version of the Globe. I'm looking for the 'On baseball' column so I can read it through. Except I can't find the palm trees. And my paper Globe has the headline: "Finger of fate points in familiar direction" and is a totally different column and this version's got good stuff on the role of "luck" that John Henry says contributed to the one-run losses. So I'm thinking, why the hell isn't this the same as the online version... it's got nothing to do with the game ending late? So the piece goes on to mention the bad fate that has permeated the Red Sox past, including Aparicio stumbling around third in '72, the year this torture began for me. But then suddenly Edes adds in:

"New owners have managed to drive off the rats that used to have the run of the place - there hasn't been a single rodent sighting by this correspondent, who used to have rats waiting for him at the press box elevator door on his way out of Fenway Park - but they have apparently haven't shaken themselves of the notion that forces beyond their control are still capable of haunting their nights."

I jerk my head back for a double-take (which is not a good thing to do in a barber's chair) and say to myself, holy #&%!, Edes is calling Duquette and his minions rat bastards now?  I know the relations between the media and the team weren't good last year but did they really wait at the elevator to escort him out of the building?  Wow, calling these guys "rats" could be bigger than Junkomania... somebody said something to him about this column and he got in trouble...  looks like someone thought the rat references were a little too close to home... maybe some of those "rats" are still around and it would cause a ruckus...  God if Shaughnessy's little 'piece of junk' line caused such a tizzy, imagine the controversy when readers figure out they pulled this column online and in the later editions, holy cow.  And Greg Dickerson had just reported that Offy wanted to beat Edes up on Tuesday to boot (but turns out it was Tony Mazz). The boards are going to have a field day with this, hard evidence that The Red Sox Globe is pulling the strings and will kill any column they deem controversial, even though the rat references were dead on.

I sent Edes an email at the Globe to get to the bottom of this outrage, presenting my evidence above of a Globe heavy-hand. 

Then today, low and behold, I get an email back from the man himself. And Gordon simply writes:

"I meant real, actual rodents."

Oh... as Rosanne Rosanna Danna used to say, "...Nevermind".

(But I still like the story better with Duquette and Kevin Shea playing the role of the rats...)

8.14.02:  A series of disappointments.  (Dirt) Dogs were put in this world to remind humanity that love, loyalty, devotion, courage, patience, and good humor are the qualities that, with honesty, are the essence of admirable character and the very definition of a life well lived.  

- Christopher Snow in Seize the Night, by Dean Koontz

There's no worse feeling than being disappointed in someone, or being a disappointment to someone.  Like when you did something so terribly wrong that your girlfriend doesn't just threaten to break up with you, or throw something at you, she says the magic words "I'm really disappointed in you."  There's no worse feeling on either side, and disappointment has been running rampant lately.

Just a short list of some of those who have come up short: 

My man Trot - Yes the turnaround has been solid, right through last night, but he should have taken on that Captain's role by hook or by crook, formally or not, right from the get-go. Right after he saw Manny-Being-Manny coming a mile away this spring with the "insurance/doctor's appointment" scam. Trot should have stuck to his guns, demanded his two-spot back, and infused some life into this 2002 unit. Call it whatever the hell you want, but these New Red Sox needed the leadership, gusto, determination, and finishing power that the Dirt Dog brand of baseball brought most of last season. Step up, speak up Trot, we need to hear something real.

Grady Little - I guess we now know why he got a standing ovation at his announcement. Maybe we should have held the applause? Note to Grady: we can't "get 'em tomorrow" much longer... as a famous coach once said, "The Future is Now." No need to beat a dead horse on the rest of the well-chronicled moves and non-moves that killed the season, and he did avoid the one-run loss again last night. No, Summertime Grandpa Grady doesn't pitch or hit, but as I keep hearing people saying "the team takes on the lackadaisical personality of the manager." Indeed.

Nomar - No interest in ever taking a strike to extend an atbat, inning, work a pitcher... I've never seen more rallies die via the pop-up.  And the same old "just one game, we'll be back out there tomorrow" lines. More passion was uttered in his stumps on steroids, traveling and schedules, and strike-so-the-little-leaguers-don't-get-burned-by-these owners.

Burkett - Gammons was right all along. Boycott? Boycott being a beer man at my softball game? Boycott what?

Manny Ramirez - Indifference makes a difference. In addition to everything else we see with our own eyes, this guy was yucking it up with Prime Time in Pawtucket while the crowd stood singing for "God Bless America" during his rehab. Lucky would say RB-Bye-Bye if anyone could stomach the contract. "Manny for Mo and move around the dough" looks better every day. Watching this team play and listening to "Locker Room Uncut" on NESN is making me long for the Hit Dog who could at least cut to the chase.

Jason Varitek - While the signed ball still sits proudly on my mantle, could you just find a way to stay out of the double play? Is that asking too much?

Pedro - "Jose didn't get many chances."  Jose didn't get many chances!?!  Then what were the daily "WHAT IS HE DOING IN THE STARTING LINEUP BATTING SECOND AGAIN!" cries from the Nation all about? Offerman not getting enough chances? I'm all about helping your bummed out buddy in a "pinch" but pulheeze Petey.

The Disingenuous Dance has had many partners this week.

And I'm so disappointed.

8.11.02: Pedro's out of focus, misses photo opp!  Why that little prima dona 170-pounds-soaking-wet... just kidding, that was my changeup. Who cares that Petey missed the team photo? He was picture perfect yesterday. But Neumy does make good points, you do mark history with the team photo and it is a tad disrespectful.

A personal thank you to my friend Matt "The Factor" Lyons, who set me up six rows from the field yesterday. Matty's come a long way from throwing golf balls at Mickey Rivers from the bleachers. I've never had such a great view of Pedro, and it was fun whispering into the ears of the Sox players in the on-deck circle ("Hey NOMAR, my name's OBP, do you know me?"), but after eight innings and eight Amstels, I was speechless.

I was fortunate enough to get on-air with Mike Port on The Zone last week. After I lauded him with praise for releasing Oliver, Garces, and Offerman, picking up Embree, Howry, and Floyd, and successfully commandeering the War Room on trading day, I got around to asking him Curly's draft question: "With Floyd in the fold, will you now turn your attention to the draft and getting the top talent signed?" Port answered roughly: "Chadd and the scouts working on it, working hard... aware of the schools and when classes start...other clubs... rounding into shape, still alive on most of these fronts, made great selections but if you don't sign them...good course of negotiations..." And now it looks like number one draft pick Lester is in, but good Neighborgall is out.

This Must Be 'The Place?'  Shame on those of you who are saying that because Dauber and Sanchez were at 'The Place,' a popular watering hole downtown, on Thursday night that it contributed to The-Pop-Up-That-Fell-Down Friday night and Rey's "flu-like symptoms" yesterday. They only had "a couple of drinks" according to someone-who-was-there. Jeez, give these guys a break, it's not like they were out getting gassed the night before Yankee day games.  This isn't 2001 you know (although a little Dirt Dog fighting spirit wouldn't hurt right about now).

Line of the week on WEEI's Whiner Line:  "If John Henry had added a couple of rows of seats in front of the bullpen, we would've won that game." I guess it's just me, but I've seen a thousand better catches than Long's grab.

Is Eminem's 'Without Me,'  the Trot Nixon Show parody coming to a radio station near you? Stay tuned.

The man that shilled for Dan Duquette nine years ago, Peter Gammons, likes Billy Beane (or is it Bean?) to be the next Sox GM.

In the sprit of shameless self-promotion (which we do less of than any other site on the planet) and in an effort to answer our oh-so-many critics over the past year, one loyal reader this week best articulates what this site is all about:

"Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your site!   I discovered it about 6 months ago and can’t get enough of it.  Not only is it funny and entertaining at times, but informative and honest, as well.  There’s only so much I can read ESPN, NESN and Red Sox sites.  The honesty and insight on your website is refreshing!  Thanks for the great escape from passive, straight fact media.  It’s nice to read information given by true Red Sox fans! Keep up the awesome work! 

Fellow Red Sox Fanatic,
Michelle Lord"

Our Boy All Grows Up!  And one more round of props for our own Kevin Hench who cracked the Sunday Globe this morning (let's just hope he doesn't forget the little people... and the Little people).

Kudos to the unctuous Laguna Beach Bum Craig Dickinson (or is it Greg Dickerson?) the Dennis & Callahan fill-in last week who screamed "YOUR WEBSITE SUCKS" on air when his borrowed anecdotal theory that "managers affect about 10 games a year" was challenged by me. And after his tirade, he offered no evidence to support his theory. Well at least we know what t-shirt Craig wears to the Park. More proof that water does indeed seek its own level.

Namedropping: For the second year in a row, Mayor Tom Menino is a Dirt Dog.  Caught up with Mr. Maaya on Yawkey Way yesterday (something I won't be able to do once the Sox claim the street) and gave him his 2002 shirt.  ...found myself on the corner of the bar with Skakel lawyer Mickey Sherman at The Cooke House in Newport. I said nothing about the trial,  just joked about what I had heard about his going out for 'lobster campanese' when he finally felt he could grab a bite to eat during the Moxley trial. Anyway, turns out he's a lifelong Mets fan. So I cheered him up with my 1986 houseparty popped-the-cork-with-two-out-in-front-of-50-people-including-four-rabid-Mets-fans little tale. He got a kick out of that, glad I could cheer him up, case closed.

Housecleaning: We're trying to update some of the forgotten sections and figure out a mutually-palatable solution to the 'Headlinks' gaps (for now, the top three links will always take you to today's Globe, Herald, and ProJo stories), unfortunately our little labor of love has suddenly turned into mostly labor.

Last but not least, Major League Baseball/Bud Selig is cracking down on fan websites and doesn't appear to be worried about alienating baseball fans any further than they already have. First back in early July, MLB took over Astros Daily, a site similar to ours, faster than you can throw a gate up on Yawkey Way and turned it into a Stepford Wife site. Take a look at this godawful thing now:  www.AstrosDaily.com. Then Bud moved on to www.Metsonline.net and buried it. And most recently on August 5th, Selig sent a 'Cease and Desist' order to Bronx-Bombers.com and MLB has now begun negotiating (is this taking away from fixin' that strike thing?) to keep them up in some form. Hmmm, who's next Bud? And why do I feel like Princess Nefretiri talking to Sephora in "The Ten Commandments" after Pharaoh's reverse-curse on the first-born is explained, "Moses (Larry) would never hurt MY child, that you can be sure of"  So let it be emailed by the local lawyers, so let it be done? 

Could this be the parting of the (New) Red Sox?

8.06.02:  It's a whole new ballgame, part II.  Right off the bat Grady, guys who make over $15M per for working 162 days a year, and already had 39 games off at home in Miami, don't get anymore mental health/new hair-do days this year, Capeche?

Now, moving on to your pitching philosophy:  "he's capable of ripping off five, six, seven innings every night, too, as a starter and what more do you want from a starter?''  Grady Little asked about Tim Wakefield yesterday.  What I want from a starter is eight or nine innings, not five and six Jimy, err Grady!

I was really kidding when I asked Sean McDonough yesterday "any chance someone would pick Manny up if we put him on the wire?  It's probably the only way to get out of this $160 million albatross right?"  But the scary part is that the question was a heartbeat away from being taken seriously by Sean, Ron Borges, and Mike Giardi who did say it may be the worst contract ever signed in professional sports.  Manny better get that one tool working fast.

Signs things are getting serious: Pedro's slamming of the front office for the way they made malcontent Offy fly through Texas to pick us his four million dollar severance package on the way to Braintree, goes virtually unnoticed.  Goes to show you that 10Ks a game is the price to get The Nation to bite its collective tongue.  Remember the outcry against Pedro last year after his Danny Almonte comments?

Look for a BIG ovation for Clifford The Big Red Dog tonight.  Huge.  We'll be down with the signs.

Anyone who was rooting for the Yankees to beat Anaheim last weekend, please log off this site now and don't come back.  Ever.  Losers play for the wildcard when they are four games out in the beginning of August.

Grady cannot logically explain why Howry and Embree were in that blowout Friday night in Texas, which led to the Arrojo-in-the-seventh-of-a-close-game-good-idea brain fart. 

And Grady, let me say it first "we just ran up against some good pitchin' tonight, we got snakebit a little bit out there."  Nope, you punched that ticket about 15 times already.  Good pitching is coming at you all month long, get used to it, and figure out how to win these close ones.

March 4, 2002: "I'm back, I want my own show!  I couldn't take it anymore!"  August 1, 2002: "send us an email... that's Eddie and Jags at 1510 The Zone daut kaum."  In other media news, look for major changes to NESN's pre-game show after the Minnesota series as the Boston Globe takes over.

The Globe reported first that Offerman's insubordination took place Monday night against Anaheim.  Two days later the Herald chimes in that Offerman refused to go in for Baerga in the seventh inning on Sunday against Baltimore at Fenway.  Both papers say Mike Port confirmed their reported incident, but not the other.  Me thinks the Herald's Michael Silverman is smokin' somethin'.

Yes, we are going to pat ourselves on the back for being 9-1/2 hours ahead of the rest of the world on Offerman's release, but only because we figured it out all on our own, no team/media/personal sources contributed to our scoop.  Larry told you he was releasing Offerman in his weekly report on WEEI's Dennis & Callahan.  All you had to do was listen.

Signs I really am Lucky's lap dog:  People are sending me messages for Lucchino.  First, "larry, i hear that hell froze over on may 1, 2002. mazel tov, larry grumet."  Larry please give Larry a call. 

Secondly Larry, could you please address the following somewhere, or have Theo or Port do it?  This from Curly over at ProJo's 'Your Turn': 

"The Sox are among the poorest teams this year in signing top picks, and time is running out.  The No. 1 pick (Lester) is unsigned, as is Neighborgall, the guy who slipped in the draft, and three other top 10 picks. Maybe with Floyd in the fold, these guys will turn to the draft and getting the top talent signed, as they promised to do.  If they don't sign at least two or three of their unsigned picks, this draft could wind up being as bad as the 1997 debacle of Curtice, Fischer, Capista, Glaser, et. al."

The Nation is never happy Larry.  Never.

7.31.02: Today.  (Happy Birthday to us. Site is one year old today. Many thanks to our 238,288 visitors (and now counting over 3,000 a day) for checking in, and especially those who help out with our ever-increasing server fees by purchasing a couple of shirts and hats.) 

Today is the first day of the rest of your season.  The big bat has been found.  And for those of you who think that getting a stick wasn't as important as getting another starter, I ask you to look back at the Arizona, Atlanta, and Los Angeles games.  The pitching was there.  The hitting was not.

Kudos to the front office team who worked 25/8 on the Big Deal.  Kudos to Gordon Edes for giving it to us right a week early.  And Kudos to the fans who didn't bail out on the new group. (Pay no attention to any panicky whining that was going on here yesterday, it was just a set-up for today... we never lost faith for a second :-).

Port, fresh off his beating out the Yankees for Clifford, and doing a little chest-beating too, puts the pedal to the metal for a pitcher today.

Sun has set for the last time (yeah, we liked him too), but this is not the same old Song and dance my friend (read: Dante Bitchette).

7.30.02:  Tomorrow.  (Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya tomorrow! You're only a day a way!)

The sun'll come out Tomorrow Bet your bottom dollar That tomorrow There'll be sun!

Just thinkin' about Tomorrow Clears away the cobwebs, And the sorrow 'Til there's none!

When I'm stuck with a day That's gray, And lonely, I just stick out my chin And Grin, And Say, Oh

The sun'll come out Tomorrow So ya gotta hang on 'til tomorrow Come what may

Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya Tomorrow!

You're only A day A way!

7.28.02:  Make the move.  The clock is ticking on the trade deadline, rumors abound, anything short of a top-of-the-line brand name hitter or pitcher will be deemed a disaster at this point.  Here's guessing that Fossum and Song go in a package for either/and/or Rolen, Colon, Floyd, or Thome.

I was at the morning Ted Fest last week.  When I was leaning over the Red Sox bullpen wall, the phone in the pen started ringing, but no one was there to take the call. It kept ringing, and ringing, no one was there to answer.  Maybe it was Grady calling from Yankee Stadium.

Regarding the Ted napkinpact, Jeff Baskies, CEO of Mass. Lawyers Weekly and experienced Florida probate attorney, told WEEI's Big Show "if this is all they have, they're probably going to lose."  Besides the inherent problems with the trunk-stored oil stained paper with the changed date and questionable signature sandwiched in between Fraudia and Freezer Boy, the most interesting fact presented was that Ted signed his original will, hospital submission papers, and all other legal documents as "Theodore Williams."  The "Ted Williams" autograph was reserved for memorabilia... and no-witness agreements.  Just give the man his real last wishes.

Kudos to Mike Port for his tough-love handling of the Garces release.  It sends a strong message that fitness and focus are always going to be part of the deal around here, fan favorite or not, multi-year pact or plain old multi-million dollar deal.  On sale at Twins Souvenirs: 6,000 number '34' XXXXL "El Guapo" shirts, while they last.

Note to my friends at NESN:  Please, I'm beggin' you, no more new player-feature commercials.  Manny, Hillenbrand, Urbina, and Burkett went right into the tank the second their new spots broke.  File under: Curse of the Corsino.

A Dominican gentleman called in to WEEI last week to complain about Dan Shaughnessy.  He said "he called Jose Offerman a piece of junk... I'm a janitor and I find good things in the junk, there's nothing good about Jose Offerman."

How about that (I'm not going to say I told you so) Trot Nixon. Who are we trading him for again?  And who plays right, left,