Quality vs. quantity: Whoever this is is going to scalp the shit out of that one ticket.

You can say many things about Boston, but you can’t say its citizens don’t take advantage of a good scalping opportunity. Seriously, us Bostonians love the fuck out of scalping—so much that we’ve even tried legalizing it. I literally used to work next to Fenway Park for the better part of three years and would see it all the time. People looking for tickets and people trying to sell tickets to the game, or Sheryl Crow or Phish Matthews Band or what-have-you.

Anyway, I bring up that bit of context because some 3,000 free tickets that were supposed to strictly go to Boston-area residents to ice skate (yes, ice skate) at Fenway Park before the Bruins winter classic are now appearing on eBay — in some cases for close to $2,000 a ticket.

One sagacious entrepreneur would not even grant the Boston Globe an interview unless they bought four tickets for $4,000 (the Globe foolishly passed on the chance to reap the knowledge of Boston’s best and brightest).

Boston Mayor Tom Menino was reached for comment, but quite frankly we couldn't understand a word he said.

This begs the question: how much are Bruins tix going to be scalped for?

Read more about it at the Boston Globe (believe me, after the year they’ve had, they could certainly use the readers):
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/12/22/scalpers_hawk_free_passes_to_skate_at_fenway/

Boy 2009 was an awful season for Mets fans. Between the injuries and the awful World Series we had to suffer through, things couldn’t seem to get worse for us. Well even after the disaster of a season we suffered through, the baseball gods managed to punish us further in the off season. Our hated rivals, the Phillies recently traded one Cy Young winning ace for a similar Cy Young winning ace they could hold on to for 3-4 years. The number one pitcher on the market went to the Red Sox. And the best move the Mets made so far is not signing 35 year old overweight strikeout machine Bengie Molina to the 3 year deal he demands.

Well fans, let me take you back to a time not so long ago, when Obama wasn’t the only one preaching “hope.” Back in the early part of 2009, even after our division rival won the World Series , Sports Illustrated predicted the Mets would win the World Series and Omar Minaya seemed to have made all the right moves to put us back on top of the division. Even as players began to fall with injuries, the team pressed on and in early May, things didn’t seem so dire.

The thing I’d like to remember most from 2009, occurred on May 23rd when the Mets were visiting the Boston Red Sox. (It’s actually kind of funny to think about now, but at that point in the season the Mets were the only New York team that could beat the Sox) I was at a friend’s house for a Memorial Day bbq and a few of his friends attending were Red Sox fans. I was one of two Met fans there and the five of us were preoccupied with the game while the rest of the party was guzzling beers and stuffing their faces.

Things didn’t look good for our side. There were two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Slow footed Gary Sheffield was on base and a rookie catcher in his late 20’s was at the plate facing one of the most feared closers in the game. The guy sitting next to me was looking at me grinning ear to ear while pointing at the front of his Trot Nixon jersey. Keep in mind that at this point in the season, there was still a lot of hope for the Mets stealing back the division, so this game meant more to us than say… any game in September did.

Santos seemed to know exactly where Papelbon was going to place the pitch. The Boston closer is as cocky a personality there is in the game today, and we can be sure he wasn’t even remotely concerned about giving up the lead to a rookie backup catcher. Then came the heart stopping moment. As Papelbon goes into his delivery, Santos shifts his weight back, wags the bat backwards, and lifts his front foot. Jonathan Papelbon launched a 97mph heater right… in Santos’ wheelhouse.

Any child growing up a fan of baseball dreams of a moment like this. Sure, it’s not the World Series. But think about it. When your team is down and you represent not only the winning run, but also the last out and the first pitch you swing at sails towards the top of the Green Monster looking like it might reach the Mass Pike… you just fulfilled the dream everyone watching you play has ever had.

As the ball bounced off the top of the Monster, I leaped from the couch and screamed “It’s out!!! It’s out!!! Go!! Go!! I can’t believe it!!” The Sox fan next to me was silent and staring in disbelief. Everyone at the BBQ stopped what they were doing to come over and look at the TV. The umps quickly overturned their original call, and signaled for Santos to touch ‘em all. I was shocked, excited, and elated at my team and their resiliency.

Over the course of summer, those feelings turned to despair, but I will always look to that game winning home run at storied Fenway Park as a bright spot in a very dark 2009 season.

Below you will find the only video I could find of this home run on You Tube. No announcer making the call, black and white, but no matter what, it’s still is an awesome moment.

So the holiday crush both at home and work has put quite the dent in my available time and energy for keeping up around here and elsewhere on the informational back roads I frequent. Of course, there’s been a lot happening of note so I thought I might offer a few summary style morsels to try and stay up to speed on what’s been going down.

So that’s all for now but I hope to be back in action as much as possible, time permitting, this weekend, certainly with my take on the B’s – ‘Hawks game tomorrow night. Until then, Feliz Navidad.

In celebration of the Sox picking up John Lackey (booyah!!), I decided to post an iPhone pic of Fenway park.

Fenway Park - Home of the Boston Red Sox

Welcome to WakeBall Wednesday installment #49-001 — the First Installment — the Introduction.

As many of you are aware, I’m a fan of Baseball, the Red Sox and knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield #49. This new weekly installment on Life Revolving will encompass these three things — but maybe not all in the same post.

I welcome all comments — good or bad — as long as they’re constructive in nature. I also welcome your suggestions for upcoming topics to be covered in these weekly installments.

The offseason started.  We waited.  The offseason progressed.  We waited.  Our free agents filed.  We waited some more.  The GM meetings ended, and still we waited.  The Winter Meetings started, and we waited.  Things looked bleak.  Were we destined for waiting through the entire offseason? Would we open 2010 without a single big addition? Was Theo Epstein all talk but no game?

Not a chance.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the newest member of the Boston Red Sox: John Lackey! Five years and eighty-five million dollars later, we signed the dude who helped usher us out of the playoffs.  But that’s okay with me.  I’d much rather be on the throwing end of the first-pitch-strike machine than on the receiving end.

This is good.  This is very good.  Think about it: a Lester-Beckett-Lackey starting rotation.  That rotation, my friends, will win championships for sure.  Seriously.  Put those three names in a sentence and you’re talking about what is perhaps the most formidable starting rotation in all of Major League Baseball.

Let’s talk about the contract, because we need to get this out of the way.  Eighty-five dollars is a lot of money to spend on a pitcher, but it’s not something we haven’t done before.  We spent at least that amount on Dice-K, between the “right-to-talk” fee and his salary.  The difference is that there’s no negotiating fee here; it’s all going in Lackey’s pocket.  He’ll earn seventeen million per season.  Make no mistake: that’s a lot.  And I know what you’re thinking: now we’ll have to deal with the pulling of the payroll card.  And you’d be right.  But here’s the kicker: technically that card can’t be pulled.  Looking at 2009, the Yankees obviously had the highest payroll.  We weren’t even second or third.  We were fourth, behind the Mets and Cubbies.  And if you look at the disparity between our payroll and the Yanks’, it’s quite considerable.  And even after we start sending Lackey’s paychecks, that’ll still hold.  But wait; there’s more.  Look at the top twenty-five player salaries for last season.  You’ve got A-Rod at the top making thirty-three million (which is ridiculous, by the way), followed by Manny Ramirez, followed by Derek Jeter, followed by Mark Teixeira.  The Yankees are represented six times on that list; the other teams are the Dodgers, Mets, Astros, Tigers, Cubs, Angels, Giants, Braves, Rockies, Mariners, and Phillies.  You will notice that Boston does not appear once on that list.  Not once.  John Lackey will change that, but he won’t even make the top ten.  He’d be somewhere around thirteenth, maybe fourteenth.  Which puts us in league with teams like the Giants, Mariners, Rockies, and Phillies.  Not necessarily the names that first come to mind when you think of big spenders.  All this is to say that just because we’re going to have someone on that list doesn’t mean we’re like the Yankees, even though there will be plenty of people out there who would like to make that claim.  (By the way, just in case someone also tries to convince you that this is exactly like New York signing AJ Burnett for five years and roughly eighty-two million, I would urge you to remember that AJ Burnett was not, is not, and never will be John Lackey.  There is a huge difference, one that will be made painfully obvious to New York in due time.) It just means our general manager is a genius, because not only is this pitcher actually good, but we get him without shipping all our top prospects off to Anaheim.  Thanks, Theo! In you we trust.

This directly affects our ability to sign Jason Bay.  It means we don’t have the ability to sign Jason Bay.  Once it became obvious that he was looking for an offer we just couldn’t provide, we diverted our attention, and finances, elsewhere.  Basically, we took the money we would’ve used to re-sign Bay and used it to land Lackey.  Who will play left field? Mike Cameron, who signed a two-year deal worth about fifteen million, which would probably have amounted to less than one year’s worth of Bay’s salary.  So Cameron and Lackey were basically a package deal.  We spent so much money on Lackey, we didn’t even have enough left over to sign Holliday, so we had to make do.  And I personally would rather have Lackey and Cameron than Bay for five years.  There are two ways to win: pitching and offense.  Right now the Sox have both.  Without Bay, our offense will take a hit, but Lackey will make up for that in pitching.

Besides, Cameron has his advantages.  He’s ridiculously consistent; no matter what team he’s on or league he’s in, he’ll give you around twenty homers, eighty RBIs, a .250-ish average, and an OPS in the neighborhood of .800.  And he’s patient; he saw 3.96 pitches per plate appearance last year, almost identical to Bay’s 3.99.  He may not steal as often as he used to, but he’s still better than Bay on the basepaths.  And let’s not forget one of his most significant assets: his defense.  Cameron is a phenomenal outfielder.  While it is true that he’s played out his career in center (three Gold Gloves in that position), ability is ability, and if we move him to left, I think he’ll adapt nicely.  Either way, we need the defense.  Let’s face it: we weren’t exactly excelling in that area last year, and I don’t think I need to remind anyone the significance of good defense in our win in 2004.  I’m just saying.  Defense, at this point, seems to be the name of our offensive game.

Incidentally, Roy Halladay is also off the market, gone to Philly just like he probably would have had JP Ricciardi been able to hammer out a deal at the trade deadline.  Cliff Lee goes to Seattle to complete the deal.  Also, the Lowell trade is currently stalling due to Lowell’s thumb injury.  Really? The thumb injury? The hip isn’t the issue; it’s the thumb that’s holding up the deal? It’s not even an injury; it’s a sprain! And he started all three games of the ALDS with it! Along this vein, talks with Adrian Gonzalez yielded nothing; the Padres don’t want to deal him before the season starts.  Rest assured, however, that if they decide to shop him, calls will be made.  Meanwhile, it turns out that Beltre wouldn’t be such a bad alternative.  His defense is solid as a rock, not to mention the fact that his production on the road is through the roof compared to Lowell’s.  And finally, the 2010 season starts with and in Boston.  The first game of the season will take place on April 4 at Fenway; we’ll play the Yanks.  This is going to be epic, even if the schedule won’t be.  We have a game on Sunday night, then two days off, then the rest of that series with New York in Boston and then it’s off to Kansas City (who has the All-Star Game in 2012 which, try as I might, I just can’t seem to forget).  To make matters worse, it’ll be broadcast on ESPN2.  I would be so much more annoyed if I weren’t so psyched that we’re inching closer and closer to next season.  You know baseball’s around the corner when you started talking about opening schedules.

The Bruins lost to the Flyers yesterday.  Great.  We’re now four points behind the Sabres.  On the upside, the Pats bested the Panthers with a cool 20-10 score.  On a different note, I’ll be taking a break for about two weeks.  Aside from the Flyers game, life is good in Boston sports.  Life is most definitely good.

Sox Tea Party

And your total is “your lifesavings and your first born child”.

Anyone else notice the trend around the excitable Winter Classic? Sure, it’s thrilling to know that in just sixteen days there’s going to be an NHL hockey game on the fabled field at Fenway Park. However, as I recall, the introduction of this game via a midsummer press conference at Fenway indicated that fans would be able to enjoy the ice surface this winter prior to and past the New Years Day event.

Did someone change their mind upon the realization that you could make some serious money here?

So, you want to rent ice for an hour? That’ll be $10,000.

Or, you want to bring little Johnny to show off his sick skating skills? That’ll be $50/person for one hour.

But don’t worry, if you can’t afford either of those options you can try your luck at the raffle processes. Support a great cause and get the chance to skate with seventy five people. Have you ever seen that many people on the ice? I have, and let me tell you, that won’t be skating… It will be a processional on skates.

Another favorite aspect of the raffle concept: don’t sit there thinking you can buy just one ticket under the thought process “it only takes one to win” because they have a minimum purchase requirement.

Truthfully, I just want to be able to get my picture taken at Fenway Park with the NHL setting. I don’t even care if it’s just from the Field Box seats looking out to the Green Monster. Just a picture, is that so much to ask?

Of course, the money guzzler that is the 2010 Bridgestone Winter Classic would not be complete without a slew of “Official Winter Classic” hats, jerseys, T-shirts, gloves, socks, etc. and consider it standard for these items to be priced higher than the already overpriced official team gear they market during the regular season. In reality, this aspect was inevitable because afterall, it works. I’m writing this as I wear my Reebok Winter Classic “Dueling” hat. I’m a perfect example of why this scam works, because I just have to have these things.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m just as excited as anyone else for the puck drop on January 1st, but I could sure do with out the price tag.

This cub reporter made it to the big city today and started to wonder if going to an ice cold baseball park on New Year’s Day to watch the Bruins play hockey would be fun to do.

Supposedly this truck which is parked outside Fenway today will pump a thousand gallons of coolant a minute into Fenway to ice down the skating rink for the game. Dustin Pedroia’s normal position at second base will have a blue line through it instead. New Boston pitcher (news at 4:00PM) John Lackey’s spot on the mound is instead a penalty box. I bet it would have been cheaper to get Cape Pond Ice or AmeriCold to ice that rink down.

Anyone going? Or is couch potatoing a few parades and football games more your style? Eleven degrees for a low tomorrow. Maybe some pond ice will be good to go by then.

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will square off  on national television to open up the 2010 Major League Season. It will take place on April 4th, Sunday night at 8PM ET. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

This game will mark the 30th time that the Yankees and Red Sox have opened a season against each other. The last time a Yankees vs. Red Sox season opener was played at Fenway Park was back in 1985.

The baseball season can’t come soon enough.

Red Sox discuss sending Lowell to Texas – Baseball – nbcsports …
The Boston Red Sox are discussing a trade that would send 2007 World Series MVP Mike Lowell to the Texas Rangers.

Rangers, Red Sox Discussing Lowell Deal: MLB Rumors …
8:51am: Heyman believes this deal is better than 50-50 to get done, with the Red Sox paying $9MM. MLB.coms Ian Browne has quotes from Rangers GM Jon Daniels, who says both teams are looking at alternatives and the progress of this deal …

Red Sox Acquire Boof Bonser From Minnesota Twins – Boston Red Sox …
Red Sox Acquire Boof Bonser From Minnesota Twins – Boston Red Sox – NESN.com.

Red Sox Acquire Boof Bonser: MLB Rumors – MLBTradeRumors.com
8:28am: The Red Sox acquired pitcher Boof Bonser, according to the pitchers agency Reynolds Sports Management. Bonser was designated for assignment on Tuesday to make room for Carl Pavano. The 28-year-old had labrum and rotator cuff …

Influence Grows as Roots of Red Sox Tree Spread – Tom Caron – NESN.com
Jed Hoyer INDIANAPOLIS — The influence of Bostons recent baseball success is spreading throughout the majors. Here at the annual winter meetings, you cant turn a corner without seeing a former Red Sox employee meeting with the media …

Reports: Red Sox Near Deal to Trade Mike Lowell to Rangers …
WEEI.com first reported that, according to sources, the Red Sox are in talks with the Rangers about sending the 35-year-old Lowell to Texas. What would be coming back to Boston in the potential trade remains unclear, …

Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog: Red Sox About To Send Lowell To …
Tyler Kepner is reporting that the Red Sox are close to a deal that would send third baseman Mike Lowell to the Rangers for minor league catcher Max Ramirez. The Sox will probably pick up $9 million of Lowells $12 million salary . …

Full Count A Look at the Red Sox Rule 5 Draftees
INDIANAPOLIS The Red Sox had two of their minor leaguers selected by other clubs in the Major League Rule 5 draft on Thursday. The Astros selected 25-year-old Jorge Jimenez and then sent the third baseman to Florida as part of the …

MetsBlog.com : News: Red Sox trade Mike Lowell to Rangers
un real so, basically, the Red Sox just purchased a catching prospect from the Rangers and now theyre probably going to turn around and sign free-agent 3B Adrian Beltre to replace lowell yes, im thinking the same thing, in that, …

Do you think the Yankees will counter the Red Sox signing Marco Scutaro with a move to match it?
I’m looking for videos of any Yankee, Red Sox fights, I don’t care which ones, i just want some footage.

Does anyone know where i can find videos of Yankee vs. Red Sox rivalry fights?
Some suggestions of what to get for my boyfriend for xmas would be great. He is 28 years old, loves the red sox and patriots (but seems to own every home or personal accessory for each team), he cuts trees for a living…basically a typical guy. Any electronics suggestions or really just any kind of suggestions at all. I am looking to spend between $200-300.

Thanks!

Christmas gift ideas?
yankees vs red sucks.vote and tell me why.there are rumors saying the yankees don’t have team spirit and are in it for the money.i hate boston but i wanna see what people think

New york yankees vs boston red sox?
I’m a Red Sox fan, but I honestly don’t have faith in Theo and I think the Yanks will win the division and Rays win the Wild Card. I don’t think the Sox have a chance. I think the Tampa Bay Rays will be back this year to win. Even last year they were good despite their win/loss record…

Who else thinks the Rays will be back in the AL East race this year?
Well my favorite team is BOSTON RED SOX BABY and yes im a girl and i love to watch baseball! So tell me what your favorite team is.

What is your favorite baseball team?
of the Red Sox @ Yankees June 25, 1920’s game? I need it for a homework assignment. Thank you very much! (:

What was the score….?
Since the Sox need a left fielder, they could shed payroll without going back to bay. They could get Garry Matthews Jr. from the Angels for the following players:

1. Casey Kelly
2. Clay Buchholtz
3. Westmoreland
4. Kalsh
5. Isglesis
6. Pimetel
7. Bowden
8. Lars Anderson
9. Anthony Rizzo
10. Tazawa
11. Reddick
12. Doubront
and a couple of low level prospects.

This seams fair on both sides. Considering Gary’s great .250 and .240 BA over the last two years.

Felow red sox fans, would this trade make sense?
Are you like me and LOVE Baseball with all your heart but at the same time getting frusturated with the lack of a salary cap? I love the game but if they don’t make a salary cap SOON im going to go crazy! I am sick and tired of teams with money just BUYING rings! I am NOT a Yankee hater so you know, i actually say, if you have the money, spend it. But i really am SICK AND TIRED of the big market teams getting ALL of the good players. I see on baseball forums where Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, Phillies, Dodger, Angel, And Cub fans ALWAYS talking about going and getting the next big free agent or trading for some team with no money’s young stars. (see josh beckett, matt kemp) and others. It like…….for teams like my Reds, there is no hope! And teams like Pit, Kc, Fla, Min, Oak, and so on. It seems hopeless when you hear aboout the yanks and red sox possibly adding halladay, lackey, or the red sox getting josh johnson, felix hernadez, arian gonzalez and such. It is very demoralizing and i will keep cheering on my reds, but i see no point in it. ANYONE ELSE FEEL THIS WAY? Please don’t hate yanks or any of the teams i mentioned fans.

Are’nt you tired of…..?
pros of going to the opening game:
i’m a die hard red sox fan
it’s for my 18th birthday present
it’s at fenway park
it’s against the yankees
it’s the opening game

cons:
my dad will have to pay for the tix
have to pay for 2.5hr flight and hotel
i will miss school
there’s a chance that it might rain like last year(i hope not)

under these circumstances, would you rather go to the opening game or stay home and watch the game on tv with my friends?*i meant to say “watch the game on tv with your friends*

Would you rather go to the opening game or stay home and watch the game on tv under these conditions…?
I’m in need of a new sox hat and i want to go 59fifty, but the regular ones fit my head weird. so what im asking is where can i find a 59fifty, red sox(NOT the alt version with the socks instead of a B), low crown in size 6 7/8??

The Boston Red Sox are a member of the Major League Baseballs American League Eastern Division. Since 1912, the Red Sox’s home ballpark has been Fenway Park. The “Red Sox” name originates from the iconic uniform feature.

The club was founded in 1901, as one of the American League’s eight charter franchises. They were a dominant team in the new leaguedefeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first World Series in 1903. They won four more championships by 1918, and then went into one of the longest championship droughts in baseball history, which ended in 2004, when the team won their sixth World Series Championship. Since 2003, the Red Sox have competed in four ALCS, have won two World Series, and have emerged as arguably the most successful MLB team of the last decade.

The Red Sox led all MLB teams in average road attendance in 2007, while the small capacity of Fenway Park caused them to rank 11th in home attendance. Every home game since May 15, 2003 has been sold outa span of over six years and an MLB record.

The name Red Sox, chosen by owner John I. Taylor after the 1907 season, refers to the red hose in the team uniform beginning 1908. Sox had been previously adopted for the Chicago White Sox by newspapers needing a headline-friendly form of Stockings, as “Stockings Win!” in large type would not fit on a page. The Spanish language media sometime refers to the team as Medias Rojas for Red Stockings.

The name originated with the Cincinnati Red Stockings, 18671870 member of the pioneering National Association of Base Ball Players. Managed by Harry Wright, Cincinnati adopted a uniform with white knickers and red stockings, and earned the famous nickname, a year or two before hiring the first fully professional team in 1869. When the club folded after the 1870 season, Wright was hired to organize a new team in Boston, and he did, bringing three teammates and the “Red Stockings” nickname along (Most nicknames were then only nicknames, neither club names nor registered trademarks, so the migration was informal). The Boston Red Stockings won four championships in the five seasons of the new National Association, the first professional league.

Boston and a new Cincinnati club were charter members of the National League in 1876. Perhaps in deference to the Cincinnati history, many people reserved the “Red Stockings” nickname for that city with the Boston team commonly referred to as the “Red Caps” today. Other names were sometimes used before Boston officially adopted the nickname “Braves” in 1912; that club is now based in Atlanta, Georgia.

In 1901, the upstart American League established a competing club in Boston. (Originally, the team was supposed to be the Buffalo Bisons, currently a minor league team, but league ownership at the last minute removed Buffalo from the league in favor of the expansion Boston franchise.) For seven seasons, the AL team wore dark blue stockings and had no official nickname. They were simply “Boston”, “Bostonians” or “the Bostons”; or the “Americans” or “Boston Americans” as in “American Leaguers”, Boston being a two-team city. Their 19011907 jerseys, both home and road, simply read “Boston”, except for 1902 when they sported large letters “B” and “A” denoting “Boston” and “American.” Newspaper writers of the time used other nicknames for the club, including “Somersets” (for owner Charles Somers), “Plymouth Rocks,” “Beaneaters,” the “Collinsites” (for manager Jimmy Collins)”, and “Pilgrims.”

For years many sources have listed “Pilgrims” as the early Boston AL team’s official nickname, but researcher Bill Nowlin has demonstrated that the name was barely used, if at all, during the team’s early years. The origin of the nickname appears to be a poem entitled The Pilgrims At Home written by Edwin Fitzwilliam that was sung at the 1907 home opener (Rory OMore melody). This nickname was commonly used during that season, perhaps because the team had a new manager and several rookie players. John I. Taylor had said in December 1907 that the Pilgrims sounded too much like homeless wanderers.

The National League club, though seldom called the “Red Stockings” anymore, still wore red trim. In 1907, the National League club adopted an all-white uniform, and the American League team saw an opportunity. On December 18, 1907, Taylor announced that the club had officially adopted red as its new team color. The 1908 uniforms featured a large icon of a red stocking angling across the shirt front. For 1908, the National League club returned to wearing red trim, but the American League team finally had an official nickname, and would remain “The Red Sox” for good.

The name is often shortened to “Bosox” or “BoSox,” a combination of “Boston” and “Sox” (similar to the “ChiSox” in Chicago or the minor league “PawSox” of Pawtucket). Sportswriters sometimes refer to the Red Sox as the Crimson Hose, and the Olde Towne Team. Recently, media has begun to casually call them the “Sawx”, reflecting how the word is pronounced with a New England accent. However, most fans simply refer to the team as the “Sox” when the context is understood to mean Red Sox.

In 1901, the minor Western League, led by Ban Johnson, declared its equality with the National League, then the only major league in baseball. Johnson changed the name of the league to the American League, leading teams in his league to be christened with the unofficial nickname “Americans”. This was especially true in the case of the new Boston franchise, which would not adopt an official nickname until 1908.

The upstart league placed franchises in Baltimore, Maryland and Buffalo. After looking at his new league Ban Johnson decided that he would need a team in Boston to compete with the National League team there and so cancelled the Buffalo club’s franchise, offering one to a new club in Boston. Playing their home games at Huntington Avenue Grounds, the Boston franchise finished second and third before capturing their first pennant in 1903 and repeating the next year. Those teams were led by manager and star third baseman Jimmy Collins, outfielders Chick Stahl, Buck Freeman and Patsy Dougherty and pitcher Cy Young, who in 1901 won the pitching Triple Crown with 33 wins (41.8% of the team’s 79 games), 1.62 ERA and 158 strikeouts. His 1901 to 1904 seasons rank among the best four-year runs ever.

In 1903, Boston participated in the first modern World Series, beating the favored Pittsburgh Pirates, winners of the NL pennant by six and a half games, winning the best-of-nine series five games to three. Aided by the modified chants of “Tessie” by the Royal Rooters fan club and by its stronger pitching staff, the Americans managed to overcome the odds, and win the World Series.

The 1904 club was almost as good as the previous team, but due to the surprise emergence of the New York Highlanders, the Boston club found itself in a tight pennant race through the last games of the season. A predecessor to what would become a storied rivalry, this race featured such controversial moves as the trade of Patsy Dougherty to the Highlanders for Bob Unglaub. The climax of the season occurred on the last, dramatic doubleheader at the Highlanders home stadium, Hilltop Park. In order to win the pennant, the Highlanders needed to win both games. With Jack Chesbro, the Highlanders’ 41-game winner, on the mound, and the score tied 22 with a man on third in the top of the ninth, a spitball got away from Chesbro and Lou Criger scored the go-ahead run on one of the most famous wild pitches in history.

Unfortunately, the NL champion New York Giants declined to play any postseason series, fearing it would give their New York rivals credibility (they had expected the Highlanders to win), but a sharp public reaction led the two leagues immediately to make the World Series a permanent championship, starting in 1905.

These successful times soon ended, however, as Boston lost 100 games in 1906. However, several new star players helped the newly renamed Red Sox improve almost immediately.

By 1909, legendary center fielder Tris Speaker had become a fixture in the Boston outfield, and the team worked their way to third place. However, the Red Sox would not win the pennant again until their 105-win 1912 season, finishing with a club record .691 winning percentage. Anchored by an outfield considered to be among the finest in the gameTris Speaker, Harry Hooper and Duffy Lewisand superstar pitcher Smoky Joe Wood, the Red Sox beat the New York Giants 431 in the classic 1912 World Series best known for Snodgrasss Muff. From 1913 to 1916 the Red Sox were owned by Joseph Lannin, who signed Babe Ruth, soon the best-known and one of the best players ever. Another 101 wins in 1915 propelled the Red Sox to the 1915 World Series, where they beat the Philadelphia Phillies four games to one. Following the 1915 season, Tris Speaker was traded to the Cleveland Indians. His departure was more than compensated for, however, by the emergence of star pitcher Babe Ruth. The Red Sox went on to win the 1916 World Series, this time defeating the Brooklyn Robins. In 1918, Babe Ruth led his team to another World Series championship. This time over the Chicago Cubs.

Harry Frazee bought the Red Sox from Joseph Lannin in 1916 for about $500,000. A couple of notable trades involving Harry Frazee and the Yankees occurred before the Babe Ruth sale. On December 18, 1918, outstanding outfielder Duffy Lewis, pitcher Dutch Leonard (who’d posted a modern record 0.96 ERA in 1914.), and pitcher Ernie Shore were traded to the Yankees for pitcher Ray Caldwell, Slim Love, Roxy Walters, Frank Gilhooley and $15,000. As all three players were well-regarded in Boston Lewis had been a key player on the 1910s championship teams, Shore had famously relieved Babe Ruth and retired 27 straight, and Leonard had only four years before setting a modern record for earned run average this trade was regarded as a poor one in Boston. Then, on July 13, 1919, submarine-style pitching star Carl Mays was traded to the Yankees for Bob McGraw, Allan Russell and $40,000. Mays would go on to have several good years for the Yankees, but had been a discipline problem for the Red Sox.

On December 26, 1919, Frazee sold Babe Ruth, who had played the previous six seasons for the Red Sox, to the rival New York Yankees (Ruth had just broken the single-season home run record, hitting 29 in 1919.) Legend has it that Frazee did so in order to finance the Broadway play No, No, Nanette. That play did not actually open on Broadway until 1925, but as Leigh Montville discovered during research for his book, The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth, No, No, Nanette had originated as a non-musical stage play called My Lady Friends, which opened on Broadway in December 1919. My Lady Friends had, indeed, been financed by the Ruth sale to the Yankees.

During that period, the Red Sox, Yankees and Chicago White Sox had a detente; they were called “Insurrectos” because their actions antagonized league president Ban Johnson. Although Frazee owned the Boston Red Sox franchise, he did not own Fenway Park (it was owned by the Fenway Park Trust), making his ownership a precarious one; Johnson could move another team into the ballpark. His club was in debt, but Frazee felt the need to purchase its playing site (which he did in 1920). Further, providing the Yankees with a box office attraction would help that mediocre club, which had sided with him against Johnson and “the Loyal Five” clubs. Finally, Ruth was considered a serious disciplinary problem, a reputation he amply confirmed while playing for the Yankees. Frazee moved Ruth to stabilize Red Sox finances and cut distractions. It was a straight sale, no players in return.

New York achieved great success after acquiring Ruth and several other very good players. Boston, meanwhile, did poorly during the 20s and 30s, and the sale of Babe Ruth came to be viewed as the beginning of the Red Sox Yankees rivalry, considered the “Greatest Rivalry on Earth” by American sports journalists.

After deciding to get out of baseball, Frazee began selling many of his star players. In the winter of 1920, Wally Schang, Waite Hoyt, Harry Harper and Mike McNally were traded to the Yankees for Del Pratt, Muddy Ruel, John Costello, Hank Thormahlen, Sammy Vick and cash. The following winter, iron man shortstop Everett Scott, and pitchers Bullet Joe Bush and Sad Sam Jones were traded to the Yankees for Roger Peckinpaugh (who would be immediately shipped to the Washington Senators), Jack Quinn, Rip Collins, Bill Piercy and $50,000. On July 23, 1922, Joe Dugan and Elmer Smith were traded to the Yankees for Elmer Miller, Chick Fewster, Johnny Mitchell, and Lefty O’Doul, who was at the time a mediocre pitching prospect. Acquiring Dugan helped the Yankees edge the St. Louis Browns in a tight pennant race, and the resulting uproar helped create a June 15 trading deadline that went into effect the next year. Perhaps an even more outrageous deal was the trade of Herb Pennock, occurring in early 1923. Pennock was traded by the Red Sox to the Yankees for Camp Skinner, Norm McMillan, George Murray and $50,000.

Over an eight-year period from 1925 to 1932, the Red Sox averaged over 100 losses per season. One of the few bright spots on these teams was Earl Webb, who set the all-time mark for most doubles in a season in 1931 with 67. The BoSox fortunes began to change in 1933 when Tom Yawkey bought the team. Yawkey acquired pitcher Wes Ferrell and one of the greatest pitchers of all-time, Lefty Grove, making his team competitive once again in the late thirties. He also acquired Joe Cronin, an outstanding shortstop and manager and slugging first baseman Jimmie Foxx whose 50 home runs in 1938 would stand as a club record for 68 years. Foxx also drove in a club record 175 runs.

In 1939, the Red Sox purchased the contract of outfielder Ted Williams from the minor league San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League, ushering in an era of the team sometimes called the “Ted Sox.” Williams consistently hit for both high power and high average, and is generally considered one of the greatest hitters of all time. The right-field bullpens in Fenway were built in part for Williams’ left-handed swing, and are sometimes called “Williamsburg.” Before this addition, it was over 400feet (120m) to right field. He served two stints in the United States Marine Corps as a pilot and saw active duty in both World War II and the Korean War, missing at least five full seasons of baseball. His book The Science of Hitting is widely read by students of baseball. He is currently the last player to hit over .400 for a full season, batting .406 in 1941.. Williams feuded with sports writers his whole career, calling them “The Knights of the Keyboard,” and his relationship with the fans was often rocky as he was seen spitting towards the stands on more than one occasion.

With Williams, the Red Sox reached the 1946 World Series, but lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games in part because of the use of the “Williams Shift,” a defensive tactic in which the shortstop would move to the right side of the infield to make it harder for the left-handed-hitting Williams to hit to that side of the field. Some have claimed that he was too proud to hit to the other side of the field, not wanting to let the Cardinals take away his game. His performance may have also been affected by a pitch he took in the elbow in an exhibition game a few days earlier. Either way, in his only World Series, Williams gathering just five singles in 25 at-bats for a .200 average.

The Cardinals won the 1946 Series when Enos Slaughter scored the go-ahead run all the way from first base on a base hit to left field. The throw from Leon Culberson was cut off by shortstop Johnny Pesky, who relayed the ball to the plate just a hair too late. Some say Pesky hesitated or “held the ball” before he turned to throw the ball, but this has been disputed.

Along with Williams and Pesky, the Red Sox featured several other star players during the 1940s, including second baseman Bobby Doerr and center fielder Dom DiMaggio (the younger brother of Joe DiMaggio).

The Red Sox narrowly lost the AL pennant in 1948 and 1949. In 1948, Boston finished in a tie with Cleveland, and their loss to Cleveland in a one-game playoff ended hopes of an all-Boston World Series. Curiously, manager Joseph McCarthy chose journeyman Denny Galehouse to start the playoff game when the young lefty phenom Mel Parnell was available to pitch. In 1949, the Red Sox were one game ahead of the New York Yankees, with the only two games left for both teams being against each other, and they lost both of those games.

The 1950s were viewed as a time of tribulation for the Red Sox. After Williams returned from the Korean War in 1953, many of the best players from the late 1940s had retired or been traded. The stark contrast in the team led critics to call the Red Sox’ daily lineup “Ted Williams and the Seven Dwarfs.” Jackie Robinson was even worked out by the team at Fenway Park, however it appeared that owner Tom Yawkey did not want an African American player on his team at that time. Willie Mays also tried out for Boston and was highly praised by team scouts. Ted Williams hit .388 at the age of 38 in 1957, but there was little else for Boston fans to root for. Williams retired at the end of the 1960 season, famously hitting a home run in his final at-bat as memorialized in the John Updike story “Hub fans bid Kid adieu.” The Red Sox finally became the last Major League team to field an African American player when they promoted infielder Pumpsie Green from their AAA farm team in 1959.

The 1960s also started poorly for the Red Sox, though 1961 saw the debut of Carl “Yaz” Yastrzemski, Williams’ replacement in left field, who developed into one of the better hitters of a pitching-rich decade.

Red Sox fans know 1967 as the season of the “Impossible Dream.” The slogan refers to the hit song from the popular musical play “Man of La Mancha.” 1967 saw one of the great pennant races in baseball history with four teams in the AL pennant race until almost the last game. The BoSox had finished the 1966 season in ninth place, but they found new life with Yastrzemski as the team went to the 1967 World Series. Yastrzemski won the American League Triple Crown (the most recent player to accomplish such a feat), hitting .326 with 44 home runs and 121 RBIs. He finished one vote short of a unanimous MVP selection, as a Minnesota sportswriter placed Twins center fielder Cesar Tovar first on his ballot. But the Red Sox lost the series again to the St. Louis Cardinals, in seven games. Legendary pitcher Bob Gibson stymied the Red Sox winning three games.

An 18-year-old Bostonian rookie named Tony Conigliaro slugged 24 home runs in 1964. “Tony C” became the youngest player in Major League Baseball to hit his 100th home run, a record that stands today. However, he was struck just above the left cheek bone by a fastball thrown by Jack Hamilton of the California Angels in August 1967. Conigliaro sat out the entire next season with headaches and blurred vision. Although he did have a productive season in 1970, he was never the same.

Although the Red Sox were competitive for much of the late 1960s and early 1970s, they never finished higher than second place in their division. The closest they came to a divisional title was 1972, when they lost by a half-game to the Detroit Tigers. The start of the season was delayed by a players’ strike, and the Red Sox further lost a game to a rainout that was never replayed, which caused the Red Sox to lose the division by a half-game. On October 2, 1972, they also lost the second to last game of the year to the Tigers, 31, when Luis Aparicio fell rounding third after Yastrzemski hit a triple in the third inning, Aparicio tried to scamper back to third but this created an out as Yastrzemski was already on third.

The Red Sox won the AL pennant in 1975. The 1975 Red Sox were as colorful as they were talented, with Yastrzemski and rookie outfielders Jim Rice and Fred Lynn, veteran outfielder Dwight Evans, catcher Carlton Fisk, and pitchers Luis Tiant and eccentric junkballer Bill “The Spaceman” Lee. Fred Lynn won both the American League Rookie of the Year award and the Most Valuable Player award, a feat which had never previously been accomplished, and was not duplicated until Ichiro Suzuki did it in 2001.. In the 1975 American League Championship Series, the Red Sox swept the Oakland A’s.

In the 1975 World Series, they faced the heavily favored Cincinnati Reds, also known as The Big Red Machine. Luis Tiant won games 1 and 4 of the World Series but after five games, the Red Sox trailed the series 3 games to 2. Game 6 at Fenway Park is considered among the greatest games in postseason history. Down 63 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Red Sox pinch hitter Bernie Carbo hit a three run homer into the center field bleachers off Reds fireman Rawly Eastwick to tie the game. In the top of the eleventh inning, right fielder Dwight Evans made a spectacular catch of a Joe Morgan line drive and doubled Ken Griffey at first base to preserve the tie. In the bottom of the twelfth inning, Carlton Fisk hit a deep fly ball which sliced towards the left field foul pole above the Green Monster. As the ball sailed into the night, Fisk waved his arms frantically towards fair territory, seemingly pleading with the ball not to go foul. The ball complied, and bedlam ensued at Fenway as Fisk rounded the bases to win the game for the Red Sox 76.

The Red Sox lost game 7, 43 even though they had an early 30 lead. Starting pitcher Bill Lee threw a slow looping curve which he called a “Leephus pitch” or “space ball” to Reds first baseman Tony Perez who hit the ball over the Green Monster and across the street. The Reds scored the winning run in the 9th inning. Carlton Fisk said famously about the 1975 World Series, “We won that thing 3 games to 4.”

In 1978, the Red Sox and the Yankees were involved in a tight pennant race. The Yankees were 14? games behind the Red Sox in July, and on September 10, after completing a 4-game sweep of the Red Sox (known as “The Boston Massacre”), the Yankees tied for the divisional lead.

For the final three weeks of the season, the teams fought closely and the lead changed hands several times. By the final day of the season, the Yankees’ magic number to win the division was one with a win over Cleveland or a Boston loss to the Toronto Blue Jays clinching the division. However, New York lost 92 and Boston won 50, forcing a one-game playoff to be held at Fenway Park on Monday, October 2.

The most remembered moment from the game was Bucky Dent’s 7th inning three-run home run in off Mike Torrez just over the Green Monster, giving the Yankees their first lead. Reggie Jackson provided a solo home run in the 8th that proved to be the difference in the Yankees’ 54 win, which ended with Yastrzemski popping out to Graig Nettles in foul territory with Rick Burleson representing the tying run at third.

Carl Yastrzemski retired after the 1983 season, during which the Red Sox finished sixth in the seven-team AL East, posting their worst record since 1966. However, in 1986, it appeared that the team’s fortunes were about to change. The offense had remained strong with Jim Rice, Dwight Evans, Don Baylor and Wade Boggs. Roger Clemens led the pitching staff, going 24-4 with a 2.48 ERA, and had a 20-strikeout game to win both the American League Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards. Clemens became the first starting pitcher to win both awards since Vida Blue in 1971, and no starting pitcher has won the MVP award in either league since.

The Red Sox won the AL East for the first time in 11 seasons, and faced the California Angels in the AL Championship Series. The teams split the first two games in Boston, but the Angels won the next two home games, taking a 31 lead in the series. With the Angels poised to win the series, the Red Sox trailed 52 heading into the ninth inning of Game 5. A two-run homer by Baylor cut the lead to one. With two outs and a runner on, and one strike away from elimination, Dave Henderson homered off Donnie Moore to put Boston up 65. Although the Angels tied the game in the bottom of the ninth, the Red Sox won in the 11th on a Henderson sacrifice fly off Moore. The Red Sox then found themselves with six – and seven-run wins at Fenway Park in Games 6 and 7 to win the American League title.

The Red Sox faced a heavily favored New York Mets team that had won 108 games in the regular season in the 1986 World Series. Boston won the first two games in Shea Stadium but lost the next two at Fenway, knotting the series at 2 games apiece. After Bruce Hurst recorded his second victory of the series in Game 5, the Red Sox returned to Shea Stadium looking to garner their first championship in 68 years. However, Game 6 would go down as one of the most devastating losses in club history. After pitching seven strong innings, Clemens was lifted from the game with a 32 lead. Years later, Manager John McNamara said Clemens was suffering from a blister and asked to be taken out of the game, a claim Clemens denied. The Mets then scored a run off reliever and former Met Calvin Schiraldi to tie the score 33. The game went to extra innings, where the Red Sox took a 53 lead in the top of the 10th on a solo home run by Henderson, a double by Boggs and an RBI single by second baseman Marty Barrett.

After recording two outs in the bottom of the 10th, a graphic appeared on the NBC telecast hailing Barrett as the Player of the Game, and Bruce Hurst had been named World Series MVP. A message even appeared briefly on the Shea Stadium scoreboard congratulating the Red Sox as world champions. After so many years of abject frustration, Red Sox fans around the world could taste victory. With two strikes, Mets catcher Gary Carter hit a single. It was followed by singles by Kevin Mitchell and Ray Knight. With Mookie Wilson batting, a wild pitch by Bob Stanley tied the game at 5. Wilson then hit a slow ground ball to first; the ball rolled through Bill Buckner’s legs, allowing Knight to score the winning run from second.

While Buckner was singled out as responsible for the loss, many observers as well as both Wilson and Buckner have noted that even if Buckner had fielded the ball cleanly, the speedy Wilson probably would still have been safe, leaving the game-winning run at third with two out.

Many observers questioned why Buckner was in the game at that point considering he had bad knees and that Dave Stapleton had come in as a late-inning defensive replacement in prior series games. It appeared as though McNamara was trying to reward Buckner for his long and illustrious career by leaving him in the game. After falling behind 30, the Mets then won Game 7, concluding the devastating collapse and feeding the myth that the Red Sox were “cursed.”

The Red Sox returned to the postseason in 1988. With the club in fourth place midway through the 1988 season at the All-Star break, manager John McNamara was fired and replaced by Joe Morgan on July 15. Immediately the club won 12 games in a row, and 19 of 20 overall, to surge to the AL East title in what would be referred to as Morgan Magic. But the magic was short-lived, as the team was swept by the Oakland Athletics in the ALCS. Ironically, the MVP of that Series was former Red Sox pitcher and Baseball Hall of Fame player Dennis Eckersley, who saved all four wins for Oakland. Two years later, in 1990, the Red Sox would again win the division and face the Athletics in the ALCS. However, the outcome was the same, with the A’s sweeping the ALCS in four straight.

In 1990, Yankees fans started to chant “1918!” each time the Red Sox visited Yankee Stadium, to remind them of their last World Series win.

Tom Yawkey died in 1976, and his wife Jean R. Yawkey took control of the team until her death in 1992. Their initials are shown in two stripes on the Left field wall in Morse code. Upon Jean’s death, control of the team passed to the Yawkey Trust, led by John Harrington. The trust sold the team in 2002, concluding 70 years of Yawkey ownership.

In 1994, General Manager Lou Gorman was replaced by Dan Duquette, a Massachusetts native who had worked for the Montreal Expos. Duquette revived the team’s farm system, which during his tenure produced players such as Nomar Garciaparra, Carl Pavano and David Eckstein. Duquette also spent money on free agents, notably an eight-year, $160 million deal for Manny Ramirez after the 2000 season.

The Red Sox won the newly-realigned American League East in 1995, finishing seven games ahead of the Yankees. However, they were swept in three games in the ALDS by the Cleveland Indians. Their postseason losing streak reached 13 straight games, dating back to the 1986 World Series.

Roger Clemens tied his major league record by fanning 20 Detroit Tigers on September 18, 1996 in what would prove to be one of his final appearances in a Red Sox uniform. After Clemens had turned 30 and then had four seasons, 199396, which were by his standards mediocre at best, Duquette said the pitcher was entering “the twilight of his career.” Clemens went on to pitch well for another ten years and win four more Cy Young awards.

Out of contention in 1997, the team traded closer Slocum to Seattle for catching prospect Jason Varitek and right-handed pitcher Derek Lowe. Prior to the start of the 1998 season, the Red Sox dealt pitchers Tony Armas, Jr. and Carl Pavano to the Montreal Expos for pitcher Pedro Martinez. Martinez became the anchor of the team’s pitching staff and turned in several outstanding seasons. In 1998, the team won the American League Wild Card, but again lost the American League Division Series to the Indians.

In 1999, Duquette called Fenway Park “economically obsolete” and, along with Red Sox ownership, led a push for a new stadium. Despite support from the Massachusetts Legislature and other politicians, issues with buying out neighboring property and steadfast opposition within Boston’s city council eventually doomed the project.

On the field, the 1999 Red Sox were finally able to overturn their fortunes against the Indians. Cleveland took a 20 series lead, but Boston won the next three games behind strong pitching by Derek Lowe, Pedro Martinez and his brother Ramon Martinez. Game 4’s 237 win by the Red Sox was the highest-scoring playoff game in major league history. Game 5 began with the Indians taking a 52 lead after two innings, but Pedro Martinez, nursing a shoulder injury, came on in the fourth inning and pitched six innings without allowing a hit while the team’s offense rallied for a 128 win behind two home runs and seven RBIs from outfielder Troy O’Leary. After the ALDS victory, the Red Sox lost the American League Championship Series to the Yankees, four games to one. The one bright spot was a lopsided win for the Red Sox in the much-hyped Martinez-Clemens game.

In 2002, the Red Sox were sold by Yawkey trustee and president Harrington to New England Sports Ventures, a consortium headed by principal owner John Henry. Tom Werner served as executive chairman, Larry Lucchino served as president and CEO, and serving as vice chairman was Les Otten. Dan Duquette was fired as GM of the club on February 28, with former Angels GM Mike Port taking the helm for the 2002 season. A week later, manager Joe Kerrigan was fired and was replaced by Grady Little.

While nearly all offseason moves were made under Dan Duquette, such as signing outfielder Johnny Damon away from the Oakland A’s, the new ownership made additions after their purchase of the team, including trading for outfielder Cliff Floyd and relief pitcher Alan Embree. Nomar Garciaparra, Manny Ramirez, and Floyd all hit well, while Pedro Martinez put up his usual outstanding numbers. Derek Lowe, newly converted into a starter, won 20 gamesbecoming the first player to save 20 games and win 20 games in back-to-back seasons. The Red Sox won 93 games but they finished 10? games behind the Yankees for the division and 6 behind the Angels for the AL wild card.

In the off-season, Port was replaced by Yale graduate Theo Epstein. Epstein, raised in Brookline, Massachusetts, and just 28 at the time of his hiring, became the youngest general manager in MLB history.

The “Idiots” of 2004 arose out of the “Cowboy Up” team of 2003, a nickname derived from first baseman Kevin Millar’s challenge to his teammates to show more determination. In addition to Millar, the team’s offense was so deep that 2003 batting champion Bill Mueller batted 7th in the lineup behind sluggers Manny Ramirez and the newly acquired David Ortiz.

GM Theo Epstein, noticing that Mueller was hitting very well in a limited role, traded Shea Hillenbrand to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Byung-Hyun Kim. Receiving much more playing time following the trade, Ortiz contributed significantly in the second half of the season. The trade ended up greatly benefiting the team, as the Red Sox broke many batting records and won the AL Wild Card.

In the 2003 American League Division Series, the Red Sox rallied from a 02 series deficit against the Oakland Athletics to win the best-of-five series. Derek Lowe returned to his former relief pitching role to save Game 5, a 43 victory. The team then faced the Yankees in the 2003 American League Championship Series. In Game 7, Boston led 52 in the eighth inning, but Pedro Martinez allowed three runs to tie the game. The Red Sox could not score off Mariano Rivera over the last three innings and eventually lost the game 65 when Yankee third baseman Aaron Boone hit a solo home run off Tim Wakefield.

Some placed the blame for the loss on manager Grady Little for failing to remove starting pitcher Martinez in the 8th inning after some observers believe he began to show signs of tiring. Others credited Little with the team’s successful season and dramatic come-from-behind victory in the ALDS. Nevertheless, Boston’s management decided a change was in order and did not renew Little’s contract. He was replaced by former Philadelphia Phillies manager Terry Francona.

During the 200304 offseason, the Red Sox acquired another ace pitcher, Curt Schilling, and a closer, Keith Foulke. Expectations once again ran high that 2004 would be the year that the Red Sox ended their championship drought. The regular season started well in April, but through mid-season the team struggled due to injuries, inconsistency, and defensive woes.

Management shook up the team at the MLB trading deadline on July 31 with a blockbuster four team trade. They traded the team’s popular yet often injured shortstop Nomar Garciaparra with outfielder Matt Murton to the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs sent Brendan Harris, Alex Gonzalez and Francis Beltran to the Montreal Expos, and minor leaguer Justin Jones to the Minnesota Twins. The Red Sox received first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz from the Twins, and shortstop Orlando Cabrera from the Expos.

In a separate transaction, the Red Sox traded minor leaguer Henri Stanley to the Los Angeles Dodgers for center fielder Dave Roberts. Following the trades, the club immediately turned things around, winning 22 out of 25 games and qualifying for the playoffs as the AL Wild Card. Players and fans affectionately referred to the players as “The Idiots,” a term coined by Johnny Damon and Kevin Millar during the playoff push to describe the team’s eclectic roster and devil-may-care attitude toward their supposed “curse.”

Boston began the postseason by sweeping the AL West champion Anaheim Angels in the ALDS. However, Curt Schilling suffered a torn ankle tendon in Game 1 when he was hit by a line drive. In the third game of the series, Vladimir Guerrero hit a grand slam off Mike Timlin in the 7th inning to tie the game. However, David Ortiz hit a walk-off two-run homer in the 10th inning to win the game. The Red Sox advanced to a rematch in the ALCS against the Yankees.

The series started very poorly for the Red Sox. Schilling, pitching injured, was routed for six runs in three innings and Boston ended up losing Game 1. In the second game, with his Yankees leading 10 for most of the game, John Olerud hit a two-run home run to put New York up for good. Following this, the Red Sox were down three games to none after a crushing 198 loss in Game 3 at home.

Up to this point, no team in the history of baseball had come back to win from a 30 series deficit. In Game 4, the Red Sox found themselves facing elimination, trailing 43 in the ninth with Mariano Rivera in to close for the Yankees. After Rivera issued a walk to Kevin Millar, Dave Roberts came on to pinch run and promptly stole second base. He then scored on an RBI single by Bill Mueller, sending the game into extra innings. The Red Sox went on to win the game on a two-run home run by David Ortiz in the 12th inning. Game 5 would last 14 innings, setting the record for the longest ALCS game ever played. Both sides squandered many opportunities, until Ortiz again sealed the win with a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 14th.

With the series returning to Yankee Stadium for Game 6, the comeback continued with Schilling pitching on a bad ankle. Three sutures being used to stabilize the tendon in Schilling’s right ankle bled throughout the game, making his sock appear bloody red. Schilling only allowed one run over 7 innings to lead the Red Sox to victory. In Game 7, the Red Sox completed their historic comeback owing to the strength of Derek Lowe’s pitching and Johnny Damon’s two home runs (including a grand slam in the second inning). The Yankees were defeated 103. Ortiz, who had the game winning RBIs in Games 4 and 5, was named ALCS Most Valuable Player. The Red Sox joined the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and 1975 New York Islanders as the only professional sports teams in history to win a best-of-seven games series after being down three games to none.

The Red Sox swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 World Series. The Red Sox began the series with an 119 win, marked by Mark Bellhorn’s game-winning home run off Pesky’s Pole. Game 2 in Boston was won thanks to another great performance by the bloody-socked Curt Schilling. Pedro Martinez (in his first World Series performance) shut out the Cardinals for seven innings and led Boston to a 41 victory in game 3, and Derek Lowe and the Red Sox did not allow a single run in game 4. The game ended as Edgar Renteria hit the ball back to closer Keith Foulke. After Foulke lobbed the ball to Mientkiewicz at first, the Red Sox had won their first World Championship in 86 years.

Boston held the Cardinals’ offense to only three runs in the final three games and never trailed in the series. Manny Ramirez was named World Series MVP. To add a final, surreal touch to Boston’s championship season, on the night of Game 4 a total lunar eclipse colored the moon red over Busch Stadium. The city of Boston held a “rolling rally” for the team on October 30, 2004. Red Sox Nation packed the streets of Boston that Saturday to celebrate as the team rode on the city’s famous Duck Boats. The Red Sox earned many accolades from the sports media and throughout the nation for their incredible season. In December, Sports Illustrated named the Boston Red Sox the 2004 Sportsmen of the Year.

After winning its first World Series in 86 years, the club re-signed Jason Varitek and named him team captain. The 2005 AL East would be decided on the last weekend of the season, with the Yankees coming to Fenway Park with a one-game lead in the standings. The Red Sox won two of the three games to finish the season with the same record as the Yankees, 9567. However, a playoff was not needed. The Yankees had won the season series, 109, thus they won the division, and the Red Sox settled for the Wild Card. Boston was swept in three games by the eventual 2005 World Series champion White Sox in the first round of the playoffs.

On October 31, 2005, general manager Theo Epstein resigned on the last day of his contract. On Thanksgiving evening, the Red Sox announced the acquisition of pitcher Josh Beckett and third baseman Mike Lowell from the Florida Marlins, while sending several prospects including Hanley Ramirez to the Marlins. Fan-favorite Johnny Damon broke the hearts of Red Sox Nation by signing a four-year, $52 million deal with the Yankees. The team filled the vacancy in center field left by Damon’s departure by trading for Cleveland Indians center fielder Coco Crisp. However, Crisp fractured his left index finger in April and would end up missing over 50 games in 2006. In January 2006, Epstein came to terms with the Red Sox and was once again named General Manager.

The revamped Red Sox infield, with third baseman Mike Lowell joining new shortstop Alex Gonzalez, second baseman Mark Loretta, and first baseman Kevin Youkilis was one of the best-fielding infields in baseball. The Red Sox committed the fewest errors in the American League in 2006, and on June 30, Boston set a major league record of 17 straight errorless games. One of the brightest spots of the 2006 season was the emergence of new closer Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon ended up setting a Red Sox rookie record with 35 saves and earning an All-Star appearance. Also, David Ortiz provided a late-season highlight when he broke Jimmie Foxx’s single season Red Sox home run record by hitting 54 homers. Down the stretch, the Red Sox wilted under the pressure of mounting injuries and poor performances. Boston would compile a 921 record in the month of August. Injuries to Jason Varitek, Trot Nixon, and Manny Ramirez severely hurt the offense. Also, injuries to Tim Wakefield, rookie Jon Lester (diagnosed with lymphoma), and Matt Clement left the rotation with major holes to fill. The Red Sox finished 2006 with an 8676 record and third place in the AL East.

Theo Epstein’s first step toward restocking the team for 2007 was to pursue one of the most anticipated acquisitions in baseball history. On November 14, MLB announced that Boston had won the bid for the rights to negotiate a contract with Japanese superstar pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. Boston placed a bid of $51.1 million and had 30 days to complete a deal. On December 13, Matsuzaka signed a 6-year, $52 million contract.

Fan favorite Trot Nixon filed for free agency and agreed on a deal with the Indians. With an opening in right field, the Red Sox signed J.D. Drew on January 25, 2007 to a 5-year, $70 million contract. Free agent Shortstop Alex Gonzalez was replaced by another free agent, Julio Lugo. Second baseman Mark Loretta also left via free agency for the Houston Astros, opening a spot for rookie Dustin Pedroia.

The Red Sox moved into first place in the AL East by mid-April and never relinquished their division lead. While Ortiz and Ramirez provided their usual offense, it was the hitting of Lowell, Youkilis, and Pedroia that anchored the club through the first few months. While Drew, Lugo, and Coco Crisp struggled to provide offense, Lowell and Youkilis more than made up for it with averages well above .300 and impressive home run and RBI totals. Pedroia started badly, hitting below .200 in April. Manager Terry Francona stuck with him and his patience paid off as Pedroia finished the first half over .300.

On the mound, Josh Beckett emerged as the ace of the staff and was 122 at the all-star break. His success was needed as Schilling, Matsuzaka, Wakefield and Tavarez all struggled at times. Meanwhile, the Boston bullpen, anchored by Papelbon and Hideki Okajima, was there to pick up the starters often. Papelbon served as the stopper, and the rise of Okajima as a legitimate setup man and occasional closer gave the Red Sox more options late in the game. Okajima posted an ERA of 0.88 through the first half and was selected for the All-Star Game.

By the All-Star break, Boston had the best record in baseball and held their largest lead in the American League East, 10 games over the Blue Jays and Yankees. In the second half, more stars emerged for the Red Sox as they continued to lead the AL East. Beckett continued to shine, reaching 20 wins for the first time in his career. At one point, veteran Tim Wakefield found himself atop the AL in wins and finished with a 1712 record. Minor league call-up Clay Buchholz provided a spark on September 1 by pitching a no-hitter in his second career start. Another call-up, outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, was thrust into the starting lineup while Manny Ramirez rested through most of September. Ellsbury played brilliantly during the month, hitting .361 with 3 HR, 17 RBI, and 8 stolen bases. Mike Lowell continued to carry the club, hitting cleanup in September and leading the team with 120 RBI for the season. Eventual 2007 Rookie of the Year Dustin Pedroia finished his outstanding first full season with 165 hits and a .317 average. The Red Sox became the first team to clinch a playoff spot for the 2007 season and the Red Sox captured their first AL East title since 1995.

The Red Sox swept the Angels in the ALDS. Facing the Indians in the ALCS, Josh Beckett won Game 1 but the Red Sox stumbled, losing the next three games. Facing a 31 deficit and a must-win situation, Beckett pitched eight innings while surrendering only one run and striking out 11 in a masterful Game 5 win. The Red Sox captured their twelfth American League pennant by outscoring the Indians 305 over the final three games, winning the final two games at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox faced the Colorado Rockies in the 2007 World Series. Beckett set the tone in game 1, pitching seven strong innings as the offense provided more than enough in a 131 victory. In Game 2, Schilling, Okajima, and Papelbon held the Rockies to one run again in a 21 game. Moving to Colorado, the Red Sox offense made the difference again in a 105 win. Finally, in Game 4, Jon Lester took Wakefield’s spot in the rotation and gave the Red Sox an impressive start, pitching 5? shutout innings. The Rockies threatened, but thanks to World Series MVP Mike Lowell and aided by a home run by Bobby Kielty, Papelbon registered another save as the Red Sox swept the Rockies in four games, capturing their second title in four years.

Following their World Series victory, the Red Sox were forced to address a few personnel questions in the hopes of repeating as champion. The team re-signed free agents Mike Lowell, Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield and Mike Timlin. The Red Sox also added veteran first baseman Sean Casey to back up Kevin Youkilis.

Injuries to Schilling, Timlin, and Josh Beckett landed each pitcher on the disabled list before the season began, putting added pressure on young starters Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz. The Red Sox began their season by participating in the third opening day game in MLB history to be played in Japan, where they defeated the Oakland A’s in the Tokyo Dome. Boston played well to start the season, settling into a top position in the AL East. However, the surprise Tampa Bay Rays took over the top of the division with a sweep over the Red Sox in early July. From May 1722, the Sox had a winning streak of seven games, their longest of the season. On May 19, Lester threw the 18th no-hitter in team history, beating the Kansas City Royals 70. During the season, Lester emerged as an anchor in the Red Sox rotation, leading the team in starts and innings pitched while compiling a 166 record and a 3.21 ERA. Buchholz meanwhile struggled mightily in 2008 to a 29 record, ending up back in the minors. Injuries would take a toll on the Red Sox offense during the season. David Ortiz missed 45 games with an injured wrist, Mike Lowell missed weeks with a torn hip labrum, and after a blistering performance in June, J.D. Drew aggravated a back injury that shelved him for much of the second half of the season. Down the stretch, outfielder Manny Ramirez playing in the final year of his eight year contract became a distraction to the team. His disruptive behavior included public incidents with fellow players in the dugout (shoving Kevin Youkilis), team employees (pushing the team’s 64 year old traveling secretary to the ground), criticizing ownership, and not playing due to laziness and nonexistent injuries. The front office decided to move the disgrunted outfielder at the July 31 trade deadline, shipping him to the Dodgers in a three-way deal with the Pirates that landed them Jason Bay to replace him in left field.

With Ramirez gone, and Bay providing a new spark in the lineup, the Red Sox found new life. Kevin Youkilis had career highs in home runs (29) and RBIs (115). Closer Jonathan Papelbon set a career high in saves with 41. Daisuke Matsuzaka improved on his 2007 performance and led the team in wins, finishing with an 183 record. However, it was Dustin Pedroia who emerged as not only a team leader, but an American League MVP candidate. Pedroia hit over .340 in the second half, finishing the year at or near the top in the AL in batting average, hits, runs, and doubles. Despite Boston’s 3419 record following the trading deadline, the Rays held onto the AL East lead and captured their first division title in franchise history.

Boston still made the playoffs as the AL Wild Card. Behind the strong pitching of Jon Lester (two games started and no earned runs allowed), the Red Sox defeated the Angels in the ALDS three games to one. The Red Sox then took on their AL East rivals the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALCS. Down three games to one in the 5th game of the ALCS, Boston mounted the greatest single game comeback in ALCS history. Trailing 70 in the 7th inning with elimination pending, the Red Sox came back to win the game 8-7. They tied the series at 3 games apiece before losing Game 7, 31, thus becoming the eighth team in a row since 2000 not to repeat as world champions. The Red Sox led the American League last season in shutouts with 16, but only two were complete games by the starter.

* Not on active roster 15-day disabled listRoster updated 2009-12-10Transactions Depth Chart> More rosters

Former left fielder Mike Greenwell is from Fort Myers, Florida and was instrumental in bringing his team to the city for spring training. City of Palms Park was built in 1992 for that purpose and holds 8,000 people. It is also the home of the Red Sox Rookie team, the Gulf Coast League Red Sox, from April through June.

Perhaps the most memorable game played at City of Palms was on March 7, 2004. This was the first game played between the Red Sox and New York Yankees since Aaron Boone hit the home run that eliminated the Red Sox from the playoffs the previous October. Boone’s replacement at third base, Alex Rodriguez was the high profile key acquisition of the off season for the Yankees, and he was savagely booed by the 7,304 in attendance.

The Red Sox’s lease with Fort Myers runs through 2019, however, team ownership had been toying with exercising the early out in their contract that allows them to leave following the 2009 spring season. Chief operating officer Mike Dee met with Sarasota officials on April 25, 2008 to discuss the possibility of the Red Sox moving to Sarasota’s Ed Smith Stadium once its current spring inhabitants, the Cincinnati Reds, move to their new spring home in Goodyear, Arizona.

John Yarborough, director of Lee County Parks and Rec, met with Jeff Mudgett, a Fort Myers architect who is volunteering his time to brain storm ideas on what can be done to keep the Red Sox in Fort Myers. Id like to have a project by 2012, Yarborough said after the meeting.

On October 28, 2008, the Lee County commission voted 3-1 to approve an agreement with the Boston Red Sox to build a new spring-training facility for the team in south Lee County. Commissioner Brian Bigelow was the lone dissenting vote. Commissioner Bob Janes was not present for the vote, but stated that he supported it.

Dee was present in the chambers for the vote, and took the agreement back to Boston to meet with John Henry and other team officials. On November 1, 2008, the Red Sox signed an agreement with Lee County that will keep their spring training home in the Fort Myers area for 30 more years.

Wednesday, April 30, 2009, the Lee County commissioners selected the Watermen-Pinnacle site on Daniels Parkway (a little more than a mile east of Interstate 75) as the site for the new facility. The backup choice, if negotiations between county staff and the developer falter, is the University Highland site just north of Germain Arena in Estero. Jeff Mudgett, a Fort Myers architect who is volunteering his time toward the project, envisions a facility with a mini-Fenway Park that would open for Spring 2012.

Currently, the flagship radio station of the Red Sox is WEEI, 850 AM. Joe Castiglione, in his 25th year as the voice of the Red Sox, serves as the lead play-by-play announcer, along with the rotating team of Dave O’Brien, Dale Arnold and Jon Rish. Some of Castiglione’s predecessors include Curt Gowdy, Ken Coleman, and Ned Martin. He has also worked with play-by-play veterans Bob Starr and Jerry Trupiano. Many stations throughout New England and beyond pick up the broadcasts.

All Red Sox telecasts not shown nationally on Fox or ESPN are seen on New England Sports Network (NESN) with Don Orsillo calling play-by-play and Jerry Remy, former Red Sox second baseman, as color analyst. During Remy’s recovery from cancer, former Red Sox players Dennis Eckersley and Dave Roberts have alternated doing color commentary. NESN became exclusive in 2006; before then, games were shown on such local stations as WBZ, WSBK, WLVI, WABU, and WFXT at various points in team history.

The most recent number retirement was on July 28, 2009, as the Red Sox retired the number 14 of Jim Rice.

The Red Sox have two official requirements for a player to have his number retired:

The Red Sox previously had a requirement that the player “must have finished their career with Red Sox,” but this was reconsidered after the election of Carlton Fisk to the Hall of Fame. Fisk actually retired with the White Sox, but then-GM Dan Duquette hired him for one day as a special assistant, which allowed Fisk to technically end his career with the Red Sox. After that, with the anticipation that there might be other former Red Sox players who would be denied the chance to have their number by the club (a prime example would be Roger Clemens), the team dropped the rule. Some would argue that the rule still exists de jure, as Wade Boggs’ number has not been retired by Boston even though he meets the official requirements (Boggs finished his career with the Tampa Bay Rays after spending five years with the rival New York Yankees). It should be noted that Boston did honor Boggs by voting him into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2004, the year before he was enshrined into Cooperstown.

The only exception that has been made to date is for former Boston shortstop Johnny Pesky, whose number 6 was retired on September 28, 2008. Pesky neither spent ten years as a player nor was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame; however, Red Sox ownership cited “… his versatility of his contributions on the field, off the field, [and] in the dugout…,” including as a manager, scout, and special instructor and decided that the honor had been well-earned.

The number 42 was officially retired by Major League Baseball in 1997, but Mo Vaughn was one of a handful of players to continue wearing #42 through a grandfather clause. He last wore it for the team in 1998. In commemoration of Jackie Robinson Day, MLB invited players to wear the number 42 for games played on April 15, Coco Crisp (CF), David Ortiz (DH), and DeMarlo Hale (Coach) did that in 2007 and again in 2008. In 2009, MLB had all uniformed players for all teams wear #42 for Jackie Robinson Day.

Until the late 1990s, the numbers originally hung on the right-field facade in the order in which they were retired: 9-4-1-8. It was pointed out that the numbers, when read as a date (9/4/18), marked the eve of the first game of the 1918 World Series, the last championship series that the Red Sox won before 2004. After the facade was repainted, the numbers were rearranged in numerical order.

The Red Sox have not issued several numbers since the departure of prominent players who wore them, specifically:

There is also considerable debate in Boston media circles and among fans about the potential retiring of Tony Conigliaro’s number 25. Nonetheless, since Conigliaro’s last full season in Boston, 1970, the number has been assigned to several players (including Orlando Cepeda, Mark Clear, Don Baylor, Larry Parrish, Jack Clark, Troy O’Leary, and Jeremy Giambi). Number 25 is currently worn by the team’s third baseman, Mike Lowell, who coincidentally won the Tony Conigliaro Award in 1999.

Luis AparicioWade BoggsLou BoudreauJesse BurkettOrlando CepedaJack Chesbro

Jimmy CollinsJoe CroninBobby DoerrDennis EckersleyRick Ferrell *Carlton Fisk *Jimmie Foxx *

Lefty Grove *Rickey HendersonHarry HooperWaite HoytFerguson JenkinsGeorge KellHeinie Manush

Juan MarichalHerb PennockTony PerezJim RiceRed RuffingBabe RuthTom Seaver

Al SimmonsTris SpeakerDick WilliamsTed WilliamsCarl YastrzemskiCy Young

McGuire Lake Donovan J. Stahl Carrigan Barry Barrow Duffy Chance Fohl Carrigan Wagner S. Collins McManus Harris Cronin McCarthy O’Neill Boudreau Higgins York Jurges Baker Higgins Pesky Herman Runnels D. Williams Popowski Kasko Popowski Johnson Zimmer Pesky Houk McNamara Morgan Hobson Kennedy J. Williams Kerrigan Little Francona

Collins Cronin Harris Higgins O’Connell Sullivan Gorman Duquette Port Epstein Cherington Hoyer Epstein

1954:Roger Bannister 1955:Johnny Podres 1956:Bobby Joe Morrow 1957:Stan Musial 1958:Rafer Johnson 1959:Ingemar Johansson 1960:Arnold Palmer 1961:Jerry Lucas 1962:Terry Baker 1963:Pete Rozelle 1964:Ken Venturi 1965:Sandy Koufax 1966:Jim Ryun 1967:Carl Yastrzemski 1968:Bill Russell 1969:Tom Seaver 1970:Bobby Orr 1971:Lee Trevino 1972:Billie Jean King & John Wooden 1973:Jackie Stewart 1974:Muhammad Ali 1975:Pete Rose 1976:Chris Evert 1977:Steve Cauthen 1978:Jack Nicklaus 1979:Terry Bradshaw & Willie Stargell 1980:U.S. Olympic Hockey Team 1981:Sugar Ray Leonard 1982:Wayne Gretzky 1983:Mary Decker 1984:Edwin Moses & Mary Lou Retton 1985:Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1986:Joe Paterno 1987:Bob Bourne, Judi Brown King, Kipchoge Keino, Dale Murphy, Chip Rives, Patty Sheehan, Rory Sparrow, & Reggie Williams 1988:Orel Hershiser 1989:Greg LeMond 1990:Joe Montana 1991:Michael Jordan 1992:Arthur Ashe 1993:Don Shula 1994:Bonnie Blair & Johann Olav Koss 1995:Cal Ripken, Jr. 1996:Tiger Woods 1997:Dean Smith 1998:Mark McGwire & Sammy Sosa 1999:U.S. Women’s Soccer Team 2000:Tiger Woods 2001:Curt Schilling & Randy Johnson 2002:Lance Armstrong 2003:David Robinson & Tim Duncan 2004:Boston Red Sox 2005:Tom Brady 2006:Dwyane Wade 2007:Brett Favre 2008:Michael Phelps 2009:Derek Jeter

boston red sox, red sox tickets, red sox schedule, pawtucket red sox, red sox nation, red sox logo, red sox wallpaper, red sox curse, red sox apparel, red sox parade, Boston Red Sox, AL East, red sox news, Fenway Park, Marco Scutaro, MLB, Sox Baseball, Red Sox Nation, Jason Bay, Sox fan, pitcher, Injuries, World Series, BDD, Team Report, shortstop

To drop the puck on New Year’s Day.

Construction has begun on the rink that the Bruins and Flyers will skate on for this year’s Winter Classic at Fenway Park.

21 days and counting.

When you think of fine wine probably the FIRST thing you think of is the NHL. Or at least I do, but then I’m a classy kind of guy.

For those of you unaware, the NHL has an official special event wine maker, Joseph George, who makes special wines and bottles for “the All-Star Games and milestone player accomplishment bottles as well as the new Winter Classic bottles.”

Awesome! Now when you think varietals, you too should think of the NHL.

Me, I’m too busy scheming of a way to get tickets to the Winter Classic at Fenway. Sure, it’s going to be balls-ass cold, but think about how incredibly amazing it will be to watch a hockey game out at the ol’ ballpark!

One artist has an idea what it will be like, pretty dope if you ask me.  It’d definitely be kick-ass if it snows during the game, but Al Gore believes that won’t happen. I’d also imagine there will be a hell of a lot more NBC signage up, but otherwise, this looks pretty magical.

So, if you have a spare ticket lying around, why not take your friendly neighborhood sports blogger. After all, I already bring so much happiness into your life, isn’t it time you repay the favor?

[Puck Daddy]

above: STILL not Derek Jeter

Interesting article this week on the state of the Red Sox infield.  Shaughnessy – of the Boston Globe, but sometimes, lately, of Sports Illustrated – writes of Boston’s long nightmare, err, search for stability at the position of short stop.  

Now, the other day the Venuist pointed out that while Orlando Cabrera seemed a suitable heir to the position in the wake of Nomar’s banishment from Bean Town, that he was likely let go for reasons still unknown to the public, i.e. Red Sox Nation.  Shaughnessy’s money quote:

Cabrera played well during his time in Boston, but the Sox never tried to keep him and floated rumors about “off field” issues.

So this raises the question if there is anyone (look, we can put you on the QT here, these are the internets and journalistic integrity means squat, if not less than squat) who knows what went down with old Orlando, please contact us at:

thevenuist@gmail.com

Maybe you were an intern fetching coffee for Jed Hoyer.  Maybe your 16 year old high school bff was dating John Henry on the side or your little brother the knucklehead just happened to know Manny’s dealer.  Maybe you were just a member of the crew who was hired to remodel the late, great, candle pin bowling alley underneath Fenway Park into Theo Epstein’s bat cave and just happened to overhear, or better, witness something.  Point is, we don’t care.  We’ll take your word for it.  Give us the scoop and we’ll personally deliver you a six pack of the beer of your choice.

There is a game at Fenway Park on New Years Day.  However, the Boston Red Sox will not be on the field.  It will be their athletic city brethren, the Boston Bruins, taking on the Philadelphia Flyers on an outdoor icerink in the third annual NHL Winter Classic Presented by Bridgestone.

The game, played as a regular season matchup for 2 points, will serve as the NHL’s showcase of the year since there will be no NHL All-Star game due to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

The past Winter Classics were a huge success.  The first, colloquially known as the “Ice Bowl”, was played in 2008 between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, NY and seen by 71,217 fans in attendance.  The second, between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings, was played this past New Years Day at Wrigley Field.

These games are truly wonderful.  Between the size of the crowds, the throwback uniforms, and the amazing visuals there is so much to love about the Winter Classic.  Being an outdoor event, it harkens back to a simpler time for the old-timey traditionalists, which hockey has plenty of.  But it’s also something kids can get a kick out of;  many children laugh at the tuque’s worn by the goalies to keep their heads warm.

The ice-truck is on it’s way to Fenway as I write this and construction on the rink will begin within the week.  I can’t wait to view the sights and hear the sounds of this years Winter Classic on New Years Day.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/eventhome.htm?location=/winterclassic/2010

The Mike Webb Team:  www.NorthernVirginiaHouses.com

John Henry and every other red-blooded market capitalist will tell you that purchasing commodities in bulk well in advance of their expected maturity in value is the perfect way to maximize riches in a down economy. Along that vein, Fenway Pastoral is here to analyze the latest ten-fecta of Sox Pax ticket packages, which go on sale this Saturday, December 12 online, over the phone and at the team’s Christmas at Fenway Event.

(The organization cautions that refunds will not be issued if Marco Scutaro winds up as the Red Sox’ marquee offseason acquisition.)

Sox Pack 1 is an “Opening Day” collection that guarantees a ticket to Boston’s very first game of the season, which is against the New York Yankees. Fans cannot go wrong with this selection for their Sox Pack purchase, despite the inclusion of clunker games against the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles. Meanwhile, the May 12 game against the Blue Jays scheduled for 1:35 p.m. will have a certain slap-in-the-face feeling for those who already played hooky or skipped work six weeks earlier to see Opening Day. The Bottom Line: You’re going to Opening Day against the hated Yankees, which means you can toss verbal barbs at CC Sabathia or Roy Halladay from the grandstand.

Sox Pack 2, “Patriots Day,” also guarantees an early April ticket for a Yankees game as well as a ducat for the coveted Marathon Monday matchup against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Fenway Pastoral took a glance at the schedule and projects David Price to be on the mound for the D-Rays that day. Payback for the 2008 postseason will never feel so sweet as it will 10 beers deep at 11:30 in the morning. Meanwhile, fans wearing old Alex Gonzalez No. 10 Boston jerseys to the Toronto game must remember to X-out the former Red Sox shortstop’s last name after his defection to the Canadian enemies up north. (Bob Ryan has already filed his column telling fans whether they should or shouldn’t boo A-Gonz in his return to Fenway.)

Pack 3 is the TGIF “Thank Goodness It’s Friday” set. Twenty years ago, this package would not have sold very well due to stiff competition from ABC’s enormously popular TGIF television sitcom lineup that included classics such as Full House, Family Matters and Perfect Strangers. Tivo, DVR and Hulu have rendered appointment viewing an artifact of the 20th Century that no one will be able to seriously acknowledge in 50 years without snickering. In short, ABC’s TGIF phenomenon will make about as much sense as Derek Jeter’s Gold Gloves.

Who do the Red Sox think they’re kidding with their “Saturday Special” and “Sunday Special” Sox Packs (#s 4 and 5)? All game times are listed as TBA and both include two September games. Fans purchasing either of these packs will need to clear their schedules for two full weekend days that are more than nine months away. All Home Depot and Bed, Bath & Beyond jokes aside, solidified weekend schedules are a must when constructing large signs with clever four-word combinations for the NESN or ESPN acronyms. Making last-minute signs using a Sharpie and the flimsy cardboard from a Busch Light 30-pack just doesn’t have the same effect.

The selling points for the “Yankee Pack” and “Pinstripe Pack” (#s 6 and 7) center on the possibility that the final regular season games of the year, three home games against the Yankees, will serve as de facto playoff games. It could happen, but it’s just as likely that several of the games wind up with someone like Jeremy Hermida hitting cleanup.

On the flip side, the September 8 matchup against the Devil Rays is likely to have strong playoff implications. Meanwhile, Pack No. 7’s September 20 game against Baltimore could be one of those playoff spot clinchers, which can be especially fun for those fans interested in witnessing (or joining) drunken revelry in person.

The No. 8 “Yaz Pack” also features a Yankees game during the final weekend of the season. The bonus here is a complimentary 12-month prescription to the birth control pill that shares a nickname with the immortal No. 8. This ticket package is solid, especially so for sexually active female fans between the ages of 15 and 50. These types of cross-promotions would never have been offered on John Harrington or Tom Yawkey’s watch.

Sox Pack #9 is a “Splendid Splinter” collection featuring three important AL East divisional dust-ups as well as a ticket to see the perennially underrated Minnesota Twins. Sure, AL MVP Joe Mauer is likely to remain one of the best players in the league next season, but this Sox Pack does seem to lack a certain punch. Fenway Pastoral gets the feeling these are the types of games in which ownership will heroically give up John Henry’s dugout seats to some charitable foundation rather than waste Ben Affleck’s time. But seriously, these Packs make great stocking stuffers.

In trying economic times, deals such as the No. 10 “Extra Inning” Pack really cannot be trumped. The organization has pinpointed four games throughout the 2010 season that will go into extra innings, giving fans added value at no additional price. In 2009, the club was 4-6 overall (1-2 at home) in extra innings affairs. If sample sizes are your cup of tea, Boston was 1-0 in extra innings games played against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park in 2009.

1992 Upper Deck Ted Williams Baseball Heroes Subset

I only paid $1.00 for this set…  And I didn’t have to lie, cheat, or steal to get that price.

This set is great.  There is a ton of history packed onto these 10 cards.  And if anyone wanted to gain an instant education on one of the game’s greatest players, this set will deliver!!!

Stay tuned, I plan on dedicating a full day’s worth of posts to show this entire set to you.  You’ll like it – Trust me!!!

Ted Williams won the American League Triple Crown in both 1942 and 1947 but finished second in the MVP voting both times.

**factoid courtesy of ‘Armchair Reader – Grand Slam Baseball’

My take – Joe DiMaggio topped Williams in each of those seasons.  And while I have seen the stats that Joe D. put up – I am not sure that anything is more impressive on offense than the Triple Crown.

Joe and I have been neck-deep in baseball books lately.  For a school project, he began to read the series by Dan Gutman that began with Honus & Me and continues with a whole bunch of books where a kid named Joe can magically

Testing the Ice, by Sharon Robinson

go back into time to interact with the likes of Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle.  I read a couple of them, and although it’s hard for me to get past a whopper of a children’s book device (“Mom, I’m going back in time.”  “Well make sure you bring some warm clothes and a sandwich!”), the historical details were great and the stories moved along.  Joe loves them.  Also just saw this review for “Testing the Ice,” a book by Jackie Robinson’s daughter Sharon, that talks about her dad’s fear of swimming and tells his story in a way that kids will enjoy.  Joe would like that one, too, and it might just wind up in his stocking.  He has gotten tons of mileage out of “Players of Cooperstown: Baseball’s Hall of Fame,” a big, oversized volume that we found at a garage sale that devotes two pages to every player inducted into the Hall of Fame until about 1998, with bios and stats that he memorizes.  And BoSox fans will enjoy “Fenway: A Biography in Words and Pictures” by Boston newspaper columnist Dan Shaughnessy, although the essays are more geared for adults.  Joe digs the pictures and the memories it brings of our own visit to Fenway.

Happy reading.