Welcome To The Bay State!

Once the Howard Stern show end The Wrap Up Show ended yesterday I switched off Sirius and tuned to WEEI to watch the Manny Ramirez trading deadline drama unfold. It was my opinion yesterday and still is as I type this that Manny had to be dealt in order to restore order in the clubhouse and get the Sox back on track for the stretch run.

I am smart enough to know that Manny helped bring two World Series championships to Boston and he will be remembered fondly for that along with his smooth swing and clutch performances. However we won't forget him begging out of big games, questionable injuries and random cases of pharyngitis. The team had to deal Manny by the deadline, he was too much of distraction and they way the team came out of the All Star break is was clear that the clubhouse had to be purged of Ramirez.

Do I wish the Sox could have gotten a little more in the deal or made another move for a reliever? Yes. Do I think Bay can come in and put up Manny-esque numbers for the rest of the year? Yes. Do I think this move can be the kick in the ass that the Sox need? Certainly. Will Manny go to LA and rake the ball going into a contract year? Without a doubt.

But the big question is will the Sox get into the post season? My answer to that question is the same today as it was at the beginning of the season, and that's another yes.

Regarding tonight's game- You have to love the reception that Red Sox Nation gave Bay. A lengthy standing ovation before his first at bat and Bay responds by going 1 for 3 with a walk and a HBP. But more importantly he scores both of the Sox runs and hits a 2 out triple in the bottom of the 12th and gets knocked home to win it.

And on ESPN I see Manny out west wearing number 99 with a whole lot of left field to cover in Chavez Ravine.

All Star Fantasy Update

I'll admit I watched next to nothing of the All Star Game last night, even though it "counts". The first thing I did when I woke up this morning was log onto Yahoo to check the outcome at was happy to see the Al won and surprised by the length of the game. And the fact that the MVP of the All Star celebration on the Bronx is the Red Sox own JD Drew certainly got a chuckle from me in the am.

The Red Sox came into the break regaining first place in the AL East and should be getting healthier with the return of Big Papi. I will admit that I think the Sox are sitting in a nice spot to win the division and at the very least take a wild card spot and make some noise in the playoffs. I'm not worried about the team as a whole and expect them to be there come October.

But this post is time to reflect and take a couple moments to check out the health of my Fantasy Baseball Team. When you are a blogger playing in a league that is started by and Commish'd by Tony Pierce of busblog fame and the editor of the Los Angeles Times Blog section as well as other bloggers from around the USA and abroad you better be bringing your A game onto the field.

And at the half way point I am holding my own, sitting with a decent record of 189-159-27 I am 5.5 games out of the 6th and final playoff spot and currently take up the dreaded spot of the #1 seed in the consolation round. And we all know the consolation round is a step below kissing your sister... Not that I have a sister. However I am only 10 games out of 2nd place so I am certainly in the thick of the playoff hunt.

I'll get stat geeky and break down my position players:

C- Dioner Navarro- 9th ranked catcher in the MLB picked him up off the waiver wire when Kurt Suzuki was struggling in May. Great batting average for a catcher but low on HR and RBI.

1st Base- Mark Teixera- 10th ranked 1B in the Yahoo game. I could have gotten better value if I took Youk, but Teixera is on a pace for 35+ HR and 120+ RBI.

2nd Base- Placido Polanco- Slow start this year but has been heating up as of late. Looking at stats this is one position I should try to upgrade for the stretch run.

Shortstop- This position has been a state of flux and drops and adds for me. Currently using KC's rookie Mike Alives who is batting .310 since his May 29 call up.

3rd Base- David Wright- 2nd rank 3B in the MLB on pace to put up 35+ HR and 130+ RBI. No complaints there.

Infield Sub- Aubrey Huff- I picked up Huff off waivers at the start of the season because I knew he is a serviceable player and I like his apperances on the Bibba The Love Sponge Show. Thought I would give him a start of the year tryout. Huff has responded with his best season to date hitting 18 HR and 59 RBI going into the break. Orioles fans are fast forgetting him calling Baltimore a "horse shit town" in the offseason.

My outfield consists of- Manny being Manny, Jeremy Hermidia, Ryan Ludwick, David Murphy and Cody Ross. Here is to hoping that Manny can lock in for the second half of the season. Ludwick was a waiver wire pickup in April that has rewarded me with an All Star appearance and 21 dingers to lead my team. Hermida and Murphy have been steady workers and Cody Ross was recently added in the midst if his 17 game hit streak after Elijah Dukes went on the DL.

My pitching shakes out as follows-

Cliff Lee
Scott Kazmir
John Lackey
John Lester
Gavin Floyd

Cliff Lee was a waiver wire pickup on April 4th and has got to be the steal of the season as he is the 3rd ranked SP in the game, has posted 12 wins and earned the start in the All Star game.

Both Lackey and Kazmir started their season on the DL, but since becoming active each have played well coming up with 6 and 7 wins respectively and nice K numbers. Gavin Floyd has been an unsung hero clocking in with an impressive 10 wins and Jon Lester has been added, dropped and added again and should round out my starters for the rest of the season.

Relief pitching has been a bit shaky with saves coming only from Brian Fuentes and Ryan Franklin. If Fuentes gets traded to a contender before the deadline to become a setup man that will impact my save chances, but I will cross that bridge when I come to it. Beyond Fuentes and Franklin I have Grant Balfour and Matt Thorton racking up high K numbers for me.

That rounds out the team as it is currently constituted. I just went back and looked at the draft board to see who I originally drafted and dropped, and hopefully those drops haven't bit me in the ass.

I hope this post will help my second half push. Putting my team down on paper like this has made me look at the players and needs in a way that I don't normally, and might help me make some needed adjustments to get right into the meat of the playoff chase.

Red sox Get Their Rings-- Spring Has Sprung

The only thing better than Opening Day is the home opener at Fenway Park if the Red Sox kick off their season on the road. And today was that day, with comfortable temperatures throughout the region the Red Sox took to the Fenway infield this afternoon to receive their 2007 World Series rings.

I had to come back to Worcester early today in order to attend a creditors meeting regarding HE&PG LLC, Brett Levy and the University Park Lofts. Because of this I left work in Canton at noon, by the time I hit the Mass Pike tolls in Auburn I flipped the station from Howard 100 over to WEEI and what do I hear? Bill Buckner throwing out the first pitch. Unless you have been reading this blog from the start (and few of you have, if any) or delve deep in my archives you would not be aware of the fact that I got into an altercation with Bill Buckner in Pawtucket back in 1993 when I was 18. It was pretty much directly after this altercation that Buckner declared that he was moving away from New England to Idaho.

I copied and pasted a couple articles from when the incidents happened into a post back in 2005, I've included the link below.

Since I was an impetus in Bill Buckner leaving New England I will say this.

I respect his accomplishments on the baseball field over the course of his 20 year career. However the emotion of the loss in game 6 of the 1986 World Series had a long and lasting impression on me. I was 12 years old at the time and I feel that game and that series was my induction to "Red Sox Nation" and "the fellowship of the miserable". Without that heart wrenching loss a whole generation of late 20 and early 30 somethings would not have had the true Red Sox experience. Something that I could share with my parents as well as my grandparents. The shared experience of Red Sox losses and perpetual futility was something that bonded my family closer and I'm sure many others throughout New England.

Bill Buckner, Bucky Dent, Aaron Boone and all the rest just made the Championships of 2004 and 2007 all that much sweeter. We know that the kids of this generation will never know the heartbreak that many of us endured, even if we did have the Celtics in the 80's. In the 200's we are lucky enough to live in a region that has been laden with championship hardware and that trend looks as if it will continue. I'm certainly not gonna complain. But I'm not going to back down and blame 1986 on Calvin Schiraldi, Bob Stanley or John MacNamara. Baseball is a game of plays and Buckner did not make the play when it counted. Great career, bad play. But Bill Buckner you are forgiven as you made these past two championships all that much sweeter.


Previous Buckner Post with articles

Red Sox World Series Trophies @ DCU Center

Here is the information on the DCU website regarding the appearance of the World Series trophies at the DCU Center on Sunday. I will freely admit that that I will be showing up down there like a modern day baseball nerd in order to get my picture taken for all of posterity with the trophies!!!

RED SOX TO VISIT WORCESTER, MA WITH 2004 AND 2007 WORLD SERIES TROPHIES
11:00AM-3:30PM

The Boston Red Sox will visit Worcester with the 2004 and 2007 World Series Trophies for a public viewing. After the World Series victory in 2004, the Red Sox shared the triumph with their fan base by taking the World Championship Trophy to different cities and towns throughout Red Sox Nation. The team continues the tradition after the win in 2007, bringing the two trophies to the DCU Center on Sunday, March 30th!

The viewing will take place in the Showcase Corner of the Convention Center. Fans should enter Door #1 of the facility.

Also joining the festivities will be Worcester's Sports Mascots including Finz from the Worcester Sharks, Surgeo from the New England Surge and Twister from the Worcester Tornadoes!

Red Sox Opening Day!

So Red Sox Opening Day is a holiday of sorts here in the 4rilla-verse.

I took the day off once the opening day date was announced that way I could ring in the opener with a big mug of coffee rather than refreshing the yahoo box score if I was at work. As you can see from the picture above I think the cats were just as excited about baseball season as I am!!

Some Worcester drinking establishments were going to open prior to 6am this morning with breakfast buffets to celebrate opening day and the kick off to the Red Sox World Series title defense, however the Worcester Police Department decided to be a wet blanket and stated that they will not allow any liquor establishments open prior to the 8am standard opening time for drinking establishments.

Bars would not even be serving liquor prior to 8am but in true killjoy spirit the Worcester Police Department feels they are keeping the city safe by stopping some early morning commerce. What a farce.

The Sox came from behind to tie up the game in the 9th and force extra innings before Manny Ramirez knocks in the eventual game winner in the top of the 10th!

Inspired by David Horvitz.... Send me to Red Sox Opening Day In Japan

Earlier this week Tony Pierce linked to a blog from a guy by the name of David Horvitz. David has a pretty cool concept of selling a combination of life, art, photography and emotion.

Some of the experiences on his website include:

If you give me $3,143 I will for as far away as possible. I live in New York. I will go to Perth, Australia the farthest distance from New York on Earth. I will mail you a photograph of me standing in New York. I will then mail you a photograph of me standing in Perth. I'm a little sad right now and I would kind of like to escape, so if you are thinking about getting one of these and not sure what you want, please take in consideration my emotions and pick this one.

AND

If you give me $2,443 I will rent a car in Iceland and find you three things. I will find you a lava rock and send it to you. I will find the Aurora Borealis for you and send you a photograph of it. I will find you the best hot spring, and I will sit in it for you. I will send you a photograph of me sitting in it. I will mail these from there. (I will still also try to drive around the entire island)

Well I guess David's website gave me an idea....

Today while listening to WEEI at work today I heard the commercial for the Red Sox Destinations trip to Japan for Opening Day. So if David Horvitz can do it why can't I? Is there someone out there that wants to send me to Opening Day in Japan? I promise 24/7 blog coverage while fighting severe jet lag and culture shock. It could be fun.... And worth the $6,500 to someone!!

Therefore I propose:

For $6,000 I will take the Red Sox Destinations charter to Japan. I will attend all the games that the Red Sox play in Japan including the exhibition against the Yomiuri Giants as well as the two games against the Oakland A's. I will blog about the games and my Japanese experience throughout my trip and take tons of photos. I will send you a postcard and write you a letter on the hotel stationary and mail it to you from Japan. I will get a Red Sox player to autograph a baseball and mail it to you. You will receive a care package upon my return as well containing assorted items from my trip.

This would be a great experience for me as a Red Sox fan and a blogger and could turn into quite a crazy story.

Someone cowboy up and send $6,500 via Paypal to djequipment@hotmail.com and we can get this endeavor started. I've got my passport in hand as well as the vacation time!


David Horvitz
Red Sox Destinations
Tony Pierce

Boston Red Sox 2007 World Series Champs!!!

Wow. Two World Series championships in three years. Both World Series sweeps. My how the tides have turned. This team turned it on in the playoffs and the maligned players of the regular season like Drew and Lugo came up with monster post seasons so their mediocre regular seasons are forgiven.

This team is lined up so nice for the future. Here's to hoping that they can sign World Series MVP Mike Lowell and keep pretty much all of this team intact.

Way to go Red Sox!!!

Fall In New England

Nothing better than a sign rooting on the Red Sox that is accompanied by dried corn stalks and bright yellow and orange fallen leaves. The corn and the leaves are a sure sign that we are well into October which would seem to mean the Sox are deep into the playoffs.

As I type Eric Gagne is pitching some mop up duty in the 9th inning of game one in which the Sox batters have been patient and pummeled the Rockies pitching to the tune of 13-1. After tonight's game Sox fans can feel good going into tomorrow nights game throwing Curt Schilling against the rookie Ubaldo Jimenez. If the bats can stay half as hot as they were tonight the Sox will be a buzzsaw ripping thru the World Series. Just got a clean inning from Gagne and the Sox win game one.

World Series Prediction

I won't get home from work tomorrow until shortly after game one of The World Series has already started so I figured I better get my prediction out there and timestamped now.

Sox in 6.

That means they win the World Series at home in front of the Fenway faithful. I'll be sitting, standing and pacing around the house biting my fingernails for the duration, but as I sit here right now I have a plenty good feeling that the Sox can pull thru in 6. Not to say that the wheels can't fall off the wagon and the whole thing goes to shit, because we have certainly been there and done that in the past!

It's a shame that injury has forced the Sox elder statesman Tim Wakefield out of the World Series lineup, and interesting to see that Theo's flop acquisition of Eric Gagne did make it onto the World Series roster. Now let's see if Tito ever has the stones to use him in the series. And if he does let's all hope that he can step up when it counts and wash away all the missteps that he has gone thru the past two months.

Let the Fall Classic begin.

One down one to go!

Wow, no posts in a week.

I suck. Playoff baseball has had the better of me over the past week. I've been too distracted to post in the evening. I had intentions of doing some blog maintenance today but never got around to it after watching Tom Brady, Randy Moss and Wes Welker pick apart the Miami Dolphins.

It's 8:02 and I'm about to settle in and watch the Sox and Indians in game 7 of the ALCS. I'm expecting the bats to stay red hot tonight and Dice-K to pitch 6 innings and give up 4 runs. Red Sox win 9 to 6 and advance to face Colorado. Just my .02.

The Red Sox and the MLB business have been giving me heartburn the past week but it is all good in the quest for October glory.

Also Crystal and I went to the Celtics vs. NJ Nets game at the DCU center on Friday night. This was the game that got called at halftime due to condensation on the court and unsafe conditions. I had my camera on me and got down on the court for the madness that was the supposed autograph session as a make good for the game cancellation as well as some shots of the angry mob requesting refunds at the ticket gate after the game. The DCU should have made the refund announcement sooner and people wouldn't have been as irate.

Also the service was crazy slow to get your tickets at will call on the way in and the concession service was just as slow. I will admit the new bar that they added seems pretty sleek, the service there was better and it provides a great vantage point for a hockey game. I look forward to taking in a Shark's game from that area.


My Flickr Celts Pics
Telegram article

Red Sox On The West Coast....

Nothing like kicking off a ballgame at 10pm. Normally Papelbon is coming on around 10pm, but the Sox are on a West coast swing so I'm able to get home and relax a little bit from job #2 before the game even starts.

This first game with the A's has been a hell of a see-saw battle as I am now sitting here at 1:45am and the game is deep into the top of the 11th inning. Who cares if I have to get up at 6am? I'll be fine.... Plus I have the day off on Friday so it is a nice short week to begin with.

This has been one of the best games of the year so far, and I'm not even feeling tired.

Otherwise nothing too interesting going on in these parts!

4rilla out!

Red Sox Equipment Heads To Fort Myers

Hope Springs Eternal