Several Red Sox greats reacted to losing Pesky, who died at the age of 92 Monday afternoon.

Pedro Martinez:

“From the bottom of my heart I am extremely sad. I feel like part of the Red Sox tradition just died because when I think of Johnny I think of him hitting fungos at Spring Training. We will all miss him so much. I was embraced by Johnny and he was always there at every event. He was such a representative of everything that happened in Boston. It’s hard to think of the success, defeat, and all we went through without Johnny. You couldn’t do anything without Johnny Pesky.”

Kevin Millar:

“Johnny is the greatest man I have ever met in this wonderful game we are so blessed to play. He will truly be missed in the Red Sox family.”

Keller @ Large: Johnny Pesky: A Great New Englander

Jason Varitek:

“I’m almost speechless. This is a very sad day for me and for anyone who has ever spent any time with Mr. Pesky. He was the most positive influence I ever came across who wore the Red Sox uniform. He was always there through the good and bad times with the same smile and passion for his team. ‘Hello my honeysuckle, hello my honey bee, my ever lovin’ Jason just got three,’ Johnny used to say, wishing me three hits that night. The game, the team, the organization, and Red Sox Nation will truly miss Mr. Pesky. Love you, Pesky!”

Tim Wakefield:

“Today is a very sad day. Johnny was a mentor to me early in my career and later became more than that – he became a friend and father figure. His legacy will live forever in my heart and in the hearts of all of Red Sox Nation. He will be missed.”

Jerry Remy:

“He was fortunate enough to live his life the way he wanted to– and that was to be a part of the Red Sox organization. He did everything you could possibly do for the team… he is what the Red Sox are all about. He’s one of the very few people who truly loved what they did and he loved being a member of the Red Sox family. I will never forget the tears in his eyes when they retired number 6.”

Felger & Mazz: Remembering Johnny Pesky

Fred Lynn:

“Johnny bleeds Red Sox red. He couldn’t do enough to help you out. I know he worked with Jimmy (Rice) a lot; he must have hit Jimmy eight million balls off that wall to help him learn how to play it. John was our hitting coach and he was almost like a dad to me. When I’d line out he’d say “Hey, you see that guy standing there? Don’t hit it there. You’re a college guy.” Being with Johnny was like being with my dad all day. I always joked that Johnny hit 200 singles in a year, and I hit 200 in my career.”

Jim Rice:

“It’s a great loss, not only for the Sox but all of New England. Johnny’s been around for so long, you think about all the greats that have played with the Red Sox over the years, and he was still there. He was a legend with Ted Williams and Dom DiMaggio, and when you think of the Red Sox, you always think of Johnny Pesky. He was a great ambassador for the Red Sox.

Luis Tiant:

“He was like my father when I came here in 1971. He was a great, great friend, always good to my family when we’d go to Spring Training. We were like a family, together for so many years. He really was a great man, a baseball man all his life, and he was good to everybody. You learned a lot from him, and being around him for so many years was a great experience. You’re not going to find many people like him. Everyone who knew him will miss him.”

Photos: “Mr Red Sox” Johnny Pesky

Wade Boggs:

“The number one thing everyone has to understand is that there wasn’t a greater gentleman of the game. Johnny was loved by everyone. He would light up your day when he walked in the room. I have to give him credit for hitting me all those ground balls every day at 3:17. I have to attribute those two gold gloves that I won to the hard work that he and I put in.”

Bobby Doerr

“Johnny and I were always very close friends. I first met him in 1934 in Portland, OR, when Johnny was working for the Portland Beavers and I was playing for Hollywood in the Pacific Coast League. We roomed together and I always thought a lot of Johnny. I really enjoyed talking with him during the 100-year celebration.”

Dennis Eckersley

“Johnny Pesky will never be forgotten. His passion for baseball and the Red Sox was unmatched.”

Dwight Evans

“I first met Johnny when I was 18 and I came to the Red Sox, and he was always a gentleman and always so fun to be around. I first met Johnny in his early 50s and knew him most of his adult life. I know one thing, he loved his wife Ruthie, and now they’re together. This life is so short, and he lived it to the fullest. I celebrate Johnny Pesky’s life in many ways. He was a coach, an announcer, a mentor, and always a friend. He always had a smile and he would always talk about your career and the players we played with. He loved that fungo of his, too, and he would tell story after story. He also served in World War II, and I have so much respect for those guys who served our country through wartime. His charisma just rubbed off on you. If you were feeling bad, you wanted to be around Johnny Pesky because he made you feel good. The game would be better off with a lot more Johnny Pesky. He will be missed by many.”

Carlton Fisk

“I am crushed to hear of Johnny’s passing. I have known him for 50 years. For me, Johnny was the face of the organization – he was always there. He was there with the players for 60 years and we all loved being with him. He loved the game more than anyone I know. I will miss him dearly.”

Milt Schmidt (Boston Bruins legend and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame)

“[John was] a great pal and a great friend … one of my best friends that I have come across during my stay here in Boston. We were very, very close. And I think we became close because he was such a great hockey fan, plus the fact that he worked out with us for several times. He was almost as good a hockey player as he was a baseball player — until Joe Cronin found out about it! … John was down-to-earth and you’d never know that he was a great baseball player! … What a great man he was to know … and more power to the Sox for looking after him.”

Trot Nixon

“I’m going to miss Johnny reminding me of how big of a peckerhead I was everyday. I love you, Pesky, and I will miss you.”

Curt Schilling

“When I think about my 20-year career, one of the 3-4 ‘snapshots’ that I immediately ‘see’ is hugging and kissing Mr. Pesky in the Cardinal clubhouse after the final out in ’04. A gentler, kinder and more honorable man I did not know. God be with you and may you now sit with Teddy Ballgame and rehash two amazing lives. I will miss you and will never forget you.”

Carl Yastrzemski

“Johnny Pesky was a friend and mentor of mine for many years. His devotion to the Red Sox organization was a real inspiration to all of us who played for the team. I was happy for Johnny when the Red Sox retired his Number 6 and placed it among all the other retired numbers in right field.”

Wow, I am very excited about this return.

I had been seeing positive TTM results from Wade Boggs for more than a month straight.  He’s been signing up a storm lately – both for fees and for free as well.  And he is signing all kinds of stuff too – from cards to balls to photos – and they all are coming out great!!!

So, I wanted in on the action and I sent two cards to Mr. Boggs about three weeks ago.

And wouldn’t you know it, he signed both for me – FOR FREE!!!

Here they are:

Pretty nice, huh???

I am very excited to add these to my collection.  And I may have to try for a few more too.  It seems like with a very small amount of cash, he will add the ‘HOF 05′ inscription.

I am going to test it out – Stay tuned!!!

And ‘Thank You Mr. Boggs’!!!!!

A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results.
Wade Boggs

Baseball fans can sometimes be as superstitious and cowardly of a lot as the average criminal in a Batman comic book. Need proof? Take the case of the perfect game that did not come to be for Mike Fiers last night in Milwaukee.

Around the bottom of the fifth, I had taken to Twitter and Facebook to make folks aware that we had a perfect game in the making. Aside from a few likes on Facebook, no one said anything. Meanwhile, Brewers’ beat writer Tom Haudricourt joked on Twitter about how “I always laugh at those who are outraged when we note that pitchers have perfect games or no-hitters. We are reporters, not concealers.”

And so it would go until Zack Cozart, leading off for the Reds in the top of the 7th, would hit a double and put an end to Fiers’ bid at immortality. Ironically enough, this is the exact same spot where Ben Sheets’ bid for a perfect game ended on 9/13/06 at Pittsburgh when he gave up a hit to Chris Duffy in the 7th.

Then the blame began. My Facebook immediately lit up with “way to go”, “it’s all your fault” and my favorite “Never ever ever mention it while in progress.” So in honor of my superstitious friends and relatives, let’s look at some of my other favorite baseball superstitions:

- Purposely stepping on or avoiding stepping on the foul lines (Mets Turk Wendell and Red Sox Nomar Garciaparra) when entering the field of play

- Wade Boggs only ate chicken before games thus earning him the nickname “Chicken Man”.

- Not showering (or cleaning one’s uniform) after a win. Dusty Baker claimed to have worn the same underwear for 5 years in the minors where he only batted .250, leading to his disbelief in superstitions.

- Justin Verlander’s Taco Bell buffet (three crunchy taco supremes (no tomato), a cheesy gordita crunch and and a Mexican pizza (no tomato) before every start)

- Tapping the plate with the bat prior to taking your stance

- Drawing in the dirt of the batters box. Wade Boggs used to draw a chai, the Hebrew symbol for life, despite not being Jewish.

- Oh, and finally, who can forget Billy Sianis and his pet goat, Murphy. I’ll tell you who can’t, Cubs fans.

So there you have it, the weird, wild and wacky superstitions that fuel baseball lore. And if you need further proof of just how odd things can get, here’s a video of Doc Ellis explaining how he once threw a no hitter while high on LSD.

When the New York Yankees acquired Ichiro, I greeted his acquisition with skepticism.  At 38, his hair is greying.  He’s far removed from the days of chasing batting titles and collecting 200 hits.

Ichiro’s numbers regressed to the point that he was batting .261 with an .288 on-base percentage and .353 slugging percentage when he switched clubhouses at Safeco Field and donned the famous Yankee pinstripes.

All signs pointed to a diminished player, a shadow of the man who was once the most electrifying position player in baseball.

Still — Ichiro is an all-time great who hasn’t experienced the playoffs since his magical, MVP-winning rookie season in 2001.  Trading uniform of perennial losers for the distinguished Yankee pinstripes has rejuvenated even the most ordinary of players.

Ichiro still capable of flashes of greatness at 38:

Even at his advanced age, you could never label Ichiro as “ordinary.”

Ichiro began his Yankee career under the pressure of facing his former team, wearing the visitor’s uniform and then was swiftly baptized into the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry this past weekend at Yankee Stadium.

He responded by recording a hit in each of his first six games as a Yankee.  Ichiro can still cover plenty of ground in the outfield and his powerful throwing arm scared-off Red Sox runners from taking extra bases.

Last night, Ichiro got an excellent jump and stole second base with ease in the 7th inning.  After stealing second base, you could see that he was looking to steal third, but didn’t get his opportunity.

Derek Jeter delivered a trademark opposite field single that should have scored Ichiro, but third base coach Rob Thompson held him up at third.  Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira were sent down to end the inning.  Thompson’s decision may have cost the Yankees’ the game as the Red Sox went on to win 3-2.

Pinstripes have rejuvenated aging veterans of the past:

Hall-of-Fame slugger Johnny Mize is remembered as a St. Louis Cardinal and New York Giant, but finished his career with the Yankees.  Mize was a postseason hero as a 39-year-old in the 1952 World Series, hitting three home runs as the Yankees defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers in seven games.

After batting .259 in 1992, the Red Sox believed Wade Boggs’ hitting skills had eroded.  Boggs joined the Yankees as a free agent and logged a .302 average in 1993.  As a 36-year-old in 1994, Boggs batted .342 and was a .313 hitter in five seasons with the Yankees and helped win the 1996 World Series.

Darryl Strawberry will always be a New York Mets’ icon, but was a postseason masher for the Bronx Bombers.  Strawberry delivered many important playoff moments as a Yankee and finished his career by winning the 1999 World Series at 37.

After being re-acquired by the Yankees in 2003, 38-year-old Ruben Sierra smashed 17 home runs in 307 at-bats in 2004.  His youthful performances continued into the playoffs.  Sierra hit a tying 3-run home run in Game 4 of the 2004 ALDS that helped the Yankees advance past the Minnesota Twins into the ALCS.

In 2005, 37-year-old Tino Martinez returned to the Yankees for a final season in pinstripes.  In May of that season, Tino went on a remarkable run — hitting eight home runs in eight games.

Currently, 40-year-old Raul Ibanez has delivered 13 home runs in 259 at-bats and 35-year-old Andruw Jones has walloped 12 home runs in just 161 at-bats.

Ichiro is a low-risk option:

Perhaps, Ichiro can find new life over the next couple months as a Yankee.  He isn’t under pressure to live up to a bloated salary as the Yankees are only picking up $2.2 million dollars of his remaining contract.

Ichiro is desperate to win and will be flexible as a starting outfielder or coming off the bench as a pinch-hitter during the playoffs.  He can also can be used as a pinch-runner to steal an important base in late game situations and can serve as a valuable defensive replacement for Andruw Jones or Nick Swisher.

I expect Ichiro to have an impact similar to Tim ‘Rock’ Raines as a useful part-time player who can be called upon by Joe Girardi when needed.  He’ll get starts against right-handed starting pitchers, come off the bench as a pinch hitter to deliver a big hit and steal a base or two when required.

Ichiro has always embraced the spotlight.  People around baseball describe him as a ‘rock star personality.’

He’s always dreamed of wearing the pinstripes and actually tried-on Bernie Williams’ All-Star Game jersey in 2001 after they exchanged jerseys at Safeco Field.

“I used to have a Yankees uniform as a fan; I wore that in Japan,” he told Yahoo.com. “Also, in the 2001 All-Star Game, I traded jerseys with Bernie Williams, so I put that on before.”

Placing Ichiro on the playoff stage at Yankee Stadium might be the tonic that he and the Yankees require to win a 28th World Series title and give Ichiro that long-awaited first career World Series ring.

Will Ichiro be a success in pinstripes?  Share your thoughts below and send your tweets to @HartnettWFAN.

“Usually when I came here [with the Mariners], the fans were all over me the whole game,” Ichiro said. “But the fans tonight were awesome. They cheered for me all night. I hope that continues.”

Right from the start, Suzuki enjoyed the fans’ reaction. The Bleacher Creatures’ roll call did present a problem in his mind, but he was able to doff his cap in response.

“I wanted to take my hat off and acknowledge them,” he said. “But I was worried that if I tipped my cap while a ball was hit to me and I couldn’t catch it that those cheers would turn to boos.”

Suzuki’s contributions were modest, but they were there. He had one hit in four at-bats, a single in the fourth inning before Russell Martin homered. Ichiro was also on base in the eighth after hitting into a fielder’s choice and scored another run on Curtis Granderson’s grand slam. Raul Ibanez also homered in the first inning with a runner on first base.

That was the difference in the game. Both sides hit three home runs, but the trio socked by the Sox off Phil Hughes were all with the bases empty – Dustin Pedroia in the first, Carl Crawford in the third and Jarrod Saltalamacchia in the fourth.

“You can usually live with those,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of the solo home runs.

The long ball has haunted Hughes all season. He gave up home runs in each of his first 12 starts of the season, but that pace slowed. The three home runs Hughes allowed Friday night equaled the total the righthander had allowed over his previous five starts. For the season, Hughes has given up 25 home runs in 121 1/3 innings.

All those home runs might have given Suzuki the idea that perhaps he, too, might take advantage of the Stadium’s cozy dimensions in right field. Anyone who has witnessed Ichiro taking batting practice is aware he can go deep, but just like Wade Boggs he has been fearful that he might ruin his stroke by trying to hit home runs.

Suzuki has a great respect for the game. He has been to the National Baseball Hall of Fame four times. When I contacted him in my role with the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in 2001 to notify him that he was voted the AL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award winner, he answered the call from an office in the Cooperstown, N.Y., museum while on a visit there.

So it was hardly a surprise to hear him talk about one of baseball’s greatest rivalries.

“For a long time, the Yankees organization expects to win, and the players are accustomed to winning,” Suzuki said. “That is the mentality here. To have played my first game here with them against the Red Sox was special. There is an expression in Japan that on nights like this you grab your cheek to see if it is real and that you are not dreaming.”

In the United States, we pinch ourselves in the same situation. The cultures came together for Ichiro Suzuki Friday night.

I am loving this card of Wade Boggs from the 2012 Topps Archives set.  I think that I have 3-4 of them now…  LOL!

Check it out:

As for Boggs, he fits in very well with the 1954 baseball card design.  I think he would have performed well in that era too.  Boggs had a timeless swing and approach at the plate that I think would do well in any era of the sport.  And he is one of the very few that I believe would have had similar output as well…

What do you think?

Oh, and if you want one of my doubles of this card, just let me know and it is yours!!! 

Sunday July 22nd, 2012

By Patrick Languzzi (Guest Baseball Writer):

As we embark on baseball’s most exciting weekend, the eyes of baseball fans everywhere will be on Cooperstown, NY for the induction of Barry Larkin and Ron Santo into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Larkin was elected through the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) and Santo via the Veterans Committee after falling off the ballot in 1998.

The Veterans committee consists of 16 members made up of veteran media members, executives and current members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. For a player to be elected, they must receive 75 percent or 12 of 16 votes.

But there’s another player that I’ll take a special interest in come the winter meetings of 2013. That’s when the Expansion Era ballot (Veterans) finalists are announced. It’s also when former Red Sox great Dwight “Dewey” Evans becomes eligible again. Evans fell off the BBWAA ballot back in 1999. Now his chance to shine comes up again very soon.

Bill James once wrote, “Dwight Evans is one of the most underrated players in baseball history because he did many things well, rather than having once central skill that people could use to explain his excellence”.

My interest in Evans’ case began when Jim Rice was elected with the class of 2009 and a challenge was thrown down from my wife, simply stating, “If you feel so strongly that Evans deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, then do the research and prove it”.

I quickly went to work. The more I uncovered, the more convinced I became that Evans belonged in the Hall of Fame.  For instance, Evans was the best right fielder in baseball for close to two decades (‘70s, ‘80s). He was selected to the All-Decade Team of the ‘80s, was a three-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger, won eight Gold Gloves in 10 seasons and was selected by MLB as having one of the nine greatest outfield arms in baseball history.

And when you combine both Evans’ offense and defensive abilities since the inception of the Gold Glove Award (post-1955), it’s truly remarkable what he’s accomplished. For example, for an entire decade (‘80s) Evans has been the only player to lead his league (American) in home runs, with 256, win five-straight Gold Gloves (’81-’85) and lead all of Major League Baseball in extra base hits and runs created. Hall of Famer Henry Aaron is the only other player to lead MLB in both extra base hits over a decade (‘60s), as well as win multiple Gold Gloves with three, in his entire 23-year career. Pretty good company if you ask me.

Since the turn of the century, all the players listed to lead their respective decade in extra base hits through 1980 have been inducted in Cooperstown:

Extra Base Hit Leaders by Decade

1900s – Honus Wagner

1910s – Tris Speaker

1920s – Babe Ruth

1930s – Jimmie Foxx

1940s – Stan Musial

1950s – Stan Musial

1960s – Hank Aaron

1970s – Reggie Jackson

1980s – Dwight Evans

If you were to subtract Evans’ Hall of Fame caliber defense and focus strictly on his offensive numbers, he still compares well as a viable Hall of Fame candidate.  

It’s all right there on: www.calltothehall.com, a website designed to inform baseball fans on Dwight Evans’ Hall of Fame credentials, career accomplishments, Hall of Fame player comparisons, video footage, online petition and much, much more!

When comparing Evans to the average Hall of Fame hitter, he averages higher in runs, hits, doubles, home runs, RBI, base on balls, slugging and OPS.

           Evans Compared to the Average Hall of Fame Hitter
   
Avg HOF           Runs  Hits    2B     HR      RBI      BB      SLG     OPS
Hitter                   1275  2313   395  202   1168   858    .459    .834

     Dwight Evans 1470  2446  483  385  1384   1391   .470    .840

Evans was clutch in the post-season, as well.  In 14 World Series games (two series, ’75, ’86), Evans hit .300, with 15 hits, three HRs, 14 RBIs, seven walks, seven runs, .397 OBP, .580 SLG, .977 OPS with 29 total bases. Dewey even made one of the greatest catches in World Series history. Evans played, however, in the shadow of Hall of Fame teammates Jim Rice, Carl Yastrzemski and Wade Boggs.

And according to Bill James, one problem voters have had with Evans in the past is that they recall his offensive numbers from the first few years of his career, “the public image of him is a .270 hitter with 20-homer type power set in stone.”

The fact is, Evans went on to be closer to a 30-homer, 100-RBI hitter and was the only player in MLB throughout the ‘80s to hit 20 or more home runs in nine consecutive seasons (’81-’89).

James went on to write in an Open Letter to the Hall of Fame, “Dwight Evans is the very unusual player who had all of his best years in his thirties … Less than 5 percent [of players] have all of their best [offensive] years in their thirties. Dwight Evans is that unusual case.”

Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski said it best: “Dewey was a great offensive player and one of the greatest right fielders to play the game; there is no doubt in my mind that he belongs in the Hall of Fame.”

In closing, I’d like to acknowledge that throughout all my research, I’ve gotten friendly with Evans. And what I’ve found is that Evans is a quiet, classy individual. A man who would not discuss himself as a potential Hall of Fame candidate, in spite of his accomplishments on the diamond, all while caring for two seriously ill young children with a life threatening disease.  To learn more on Evans, please visit: Dwight Evans – Hall of Fame Individual.

Sources: Baseball-reference.com, Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame? by Bill James, An Open Letter to the Hall of Fame About Dwight Evans by Bill James

Patrick Languzzi is currently a contributing writer to a nationally syndicated sports blog called the Bleacher Report.

Follow Patrick on Twitter: @PatrickLanguzzi

Please e-mail us at: mlbreports@me.com with any questions and feedback.  You can follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.  To subscribe to our website and have the Daily Reports sent directly to your inbox, click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage. 

Mike ‘Gator’ Greenwell turns 49 years old today.

A Red Sox favorite during the late 1980′s and into the 90′s, Mike Greenwell is one of the rare players that spent his entire career with one team during baseball’s biggest spike of free agent activity.  Loyalty is a commendable trait and the faithful Red Sox fans still hold Mike Greenwell as one of their favorites.

During his best season as a professional baseball player, Greenwell took the sport by storm.  In 1988 ‘Gator’ hit .325 while collecting 192 hits.  In that year he also smashed 22 home runs, collected 119 RBI, scored 86 runs, and stole 16 bases.  And amazingly with 693 plate appearances during that break-out season, Greenwell struck out just 38 times!!!  ‘Gator’ finished in 2nd place for the MVP award that year, and had it not been for a certain player setting a new baseball standard of 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a season, Mike Greenwell would have been a unanimous selection as the league’s best player.

Happy Birthday Mike Greenwell!!!

Wade Boggs, who built his Hall of Fame resume over 18 seasons with the Red Sox, Yankees and Rays, said Tuesday morning that a player wouldn’t get his vote if the proof of performance enhancing drugs was irrefutable.

“No. No. Absolutely not,” Boggs told WFAN’s Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton. “It’s a bad message that we’re sending to the youth of America — or the youth of the world, for that fact. I mean, my goodness, if you’re gonna let one guy get in, then let everybody do it. Don’t make it illegal.”

Boggs, once a member of the Veterans Committee, no longer has a vote.

“Don’t let one guy get in the Hall of Fame and stand up on the podium in front of 30,000 people and say, ‘I’m the greatest player and I’m with all of these legends because I did steroids,’ ” said Boggs. “That’s a huge message to send to the youth of the world.”

LISTEN: Boggs with Boomer & Carton

(You can download the entire interview HERE.)

Boggs wouldn’t give his take on former Boston teammate Roger Clemens, who has steadfastly denied using PEDs since his name surfaced in the Mitchell Report. Clemens was acquitted last month on charges that he lied to Congress in 2008 about his alleged steroid usage.

But when asked if he was offended by what happened in the Steroid Era, Boggs’ answer couldn’t have been more clear.

“Sure. Sure,” he said. “You’re telling yourself that you’re not better than that guy 60 feet, 6 inches away from you. So you’ve got to have something to get the edge and beat him. This is what’s offensive.

“And the people who should really be upset are the owners, because these guys (PED users) put on a mask and stole all this money and put up these numbers, and stole it from the owners, because they couldn’t do it on their own ability. That’s what’s disheartening about the whole thing.”

As for Jackson, who questioned the candidacy of admitted steroid user (2001-03) A-Rod, not to mention the Hall of Fame record of clean players Gary Carter, Bert Blyleven and others? Well, Boggs doesn’t know whether the former Yankees star has an opinion on his credentials, which include 3,010 hits and a .328 batting average.

“He hasn’t told me to my face,” he said.

Do you agree with Boggs? Let us know in the comments below!

Monday July 16, 2012

Robert Whitmer (Baseball Writer):

“The Dash” by Linda Ellis

I read of a reverend who stood to speak at the funeral of his friend. He referred to the dates on her tombstone from the beginning…to the end. He said that the first was the date of her birth, and spoke of the last date with tears, but he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years. For that dash represents all the time that she spent alive on earth, and now only those who loved her know what that little line is worth. For it matters not, how much we own; the cars, the house, the cash. What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash. So think about this long and hard, are there things you’d like to change? For you never know how much time is left – (you could be at “dash mid-range.”) If we could just slow down enough to consider what’s true and real, and always try to understand the way other people feel. And be less quick to anger, and show appreciation more and love the people in our lives like we’ve never loved before. If we treat each other with respect, and more often wear a smile, remembering that this special dash might only last a little while. So, when your eulogy is being read with your life’s action to rehash, would you be pleased with what they say about how you spent your dash?

I chose to start with that poem because that is what we talk about all the time on this site.  We talk about that dash.  Not all the time do we talk about the dash of the players lives because they have passed but as baseball players there is a different dash that we as writers and fans worry about.  That is the dash of the players’ career.  We take this dash and analyze it.  We tear it apart looking for the good, the bad, and the ugly.  We scrutinize it to the point that we bring legal action upon players for actions that occurred in that dash.  That dash is what, as the poem says, defines us and who we are and for what we will be remembered.  Baseball players strive to make that dash between when they are called up to when they retire the most positive that they can.  Wade Boggs time to define his dash, and define it he did.  I will examine here what he did with his dash, the highs and lows, and what he could have done better, if anything, to make his dash a more positive one.  So let us begin.

The first dash that we will analyze will be the dash that we will call “the competition.”  I call it that because his early career he was battling.  Some people have demons that they must overcome in order to progress and be successful in what they do.  Others just have the people who are their peers that they must compete against to show their superiority in their craft.  If you ask the general population (I asked my wife) they would say that the personal demons are harder to overcome.  The demons that inside of you are controlled by your own brain and you may think that you have overcome them and they show their ugly head again because you falter on one thing and then suddenly you are no longer good enough for yourself and you are back to square one.  Peers, however, can be defeated and once they are you have that confidence to know that you can do it again and again.  This is the type of competition that Boggs had in his early career.  You see there was this player that came in to the league a year before Boggs did.  He was an 8 time NL batting title, 15 time all-star, 7 time silver slugger, 5 time gold glover, and finally a first ballot hall of famer.  Boggs had to compete with Tony Gwynn.  There are many categories that people like to discuss in the major leagues while standing at the office water cooler.  You have the best pitcher discussion, the best home run hitter, and then the best hitter in general.  Throughout their career, Boggs and Gwynn went back and forth in that discussion.  Of course it also depended on what coast you lived on.  West coasters probably liked Gwynn because he was a Padre and east coasters liked Boggs because he wore the Red Sox/Yankee/Devil Rays (can I still call them that?) uniform.  When I was growing up, I saw Gwynn.  Never really saw Boggs play.  I knew of him, had his baseball cards, but where I lived really didn’t have a baseball team and if it did, it was from the NL.  I would watch the afternoon games on WGN which showed the Cubs and it always seemed as though I would see the ones when they played the Padres.  The announcers always made a big deal when Tony stepped up because they thought he was going to be the next man to hit .400 in a season.  It was Boggs however that got the ultimate prize that always eluded Gwynn.

Every end has a beginning.  If you look at the history of the Red Sox at third base you see a lot of names.  If you look a little closer you see three, maybe four players that have had an extended career at that position.  Most recently you have, of course, Kevin Youkilis.  He held down the position for eight years.  He recently left the team with the “curse of the youk” which we here at the reports have coined for the next 86 (hopefully not because I’m the local Red Sox homer here at the Reports) years.  Before Youk it was Lou Merloni who was entrenched there for five years.  Tim Naehring paved the way for Merloni by putting his feet in the dirt for seven years.  It was Boggs though that was the longest tenured player at the hot corner in Fenway.  He trotted out to the bag for ten years.  Boggs had a beginning like no other.  He was a rookie in 1982 at the age of 24.  He proceeded to take the position and rocket himself to stardom.  With this stardom comes popularity.  This can be good or bad just like superheroes and villains; it all boils down to how they use their powers.  In ’84 he began an extramarital affair that ended in him being sued, the case being dismissed in the courts, and subsequently settled out of the public eye.  It was too late, however, because the damage had already been done.  He got dragged through the mud and grime and through it all, he was a man.  I say he was a man because he never denied any part of it.  He had the attitude of getting it out, admitting it, and moving on, and move on he did, right to the arms of a different lady; the arms of the New York Yankees.

It was in the Yankee pinstripes that he would surpass Gwynn as the better player of the two.  He assisted the Yankees in winning the World Series in 1996 by drawing a bases loaded walk to give the Yankees the lead over the Atlanta Braves.  If you look throughout sports, not necessarily in baseball though because it’s a 100% team sport, star players are defined by the number of championships that they win.  Reasons like this are why people are having the debate if Kobe is better than Jordan (he is not).  We do it sometimes in baseball when comparing players with similar skill sets and similar stats.  Boggs ended with 12 all-star selections, 2 gold gloves, 8 silver slugger awards, 5 AL batting titles, and was a first ballot hall of famer.  Very similar numbers to Gwynn but the major difference is the World Championship that Boggs won.  If we look at the major career stats of batting average, hits, home runs, and RBI they are also very close.  Boggs ended with .328, 3010, 118, and 1014.  Gwynn finished with .338, 3141, 135, 1138.  Gwynn played two more season than Boggs did.  I am not going to go in to the stats if they had played the same amount of years.  I don’t think they could be any closer though.  Ok I will.  They both started the same year.  If Gwynn retired the same year as Boggs (1999 instead of 2001) he would have 74 less hits, 2 home runs, and 34 less RBI.  They had almost identical careers.  When it boils down to it though, Boggs still has that championship under his belt.  Advantage, Boggs.

So about that dash, have we hashed it enough?  50 years from now when I am in the twilight of my life and I have my grandkids by my side and I am telling them about Wade Boggs they will respond with the customary, “who?”  “How do you not know about Wade Boggs?” I will respond.  I will toss a glance over at my son or daughter and they will profess to have told them.  I will know different.  They will have mentioned him, but they will have forgotten.  The history books will have been written, and written with vagueness.  They will say that he played from here to there and got these numbers, but the writers of those books will be like my children.  They will have lived in the era of the Bryce Harpers, Mike Trouts, and the Billy Hamiltons.  That’s who my grandkids will know about.  We are in the generation of my children (I’m almost 31).  The players of my generation will be long forgotten unless we pass down the stories of yesteryear to them.  I have a book that is a year by year summarized history of baseball through 2004.  I try to read to them, teach them about the players that came before.  The ones that paved the way for the players we have now.  They sit there confused as I tell them about Jackie Robinson and how he was the first player of color in the majors because they don’t understand the time that he played in.  I learned as they must; from their father.  Only remembering the dash and the numbers associated with it will be the downfall of the history connected with baseball.  The details of the dash, how the player played, the hustle, the antics, is what is makes this game special.  Teach this to your children.  Help them understand the details, and not just the dash.  Make sure that the history of the game remains intact.  I shall finish with an excerpt from the poem that began this article.  Remember though that the eulogy for a player, is how we as fans, remember them.  “So, when your eulogy is being read with your life’s action to rehash, would you be pleased with what they say about how you spent your dash?”

***Today’s feature was prepared by Robert Whitmer, MLB reports Baseball Writer.  We highly encourage you to leave your comments and feedback at the bottom of the page and share in the discussion with our readers.  You can also follow Robert on Twitter (@rwhitmer)***

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Ever since meeting Wade Boggs back in April of this year, I have wanted to add a signed ball to my collection.

And while I want to the event fully prepared to have him sign a ball (and bat) for me, that did not work out as I anticipated.

Still, I have the memories.  And Boggs was one of my favorites as a kid, so it was a thrill that will last a long time for this fan!!

Anyway, I have been shopping for Boggs stuff for a while now.  And I even want as far as searching his future signing events in hope of finding a cheap enough event to send stuff in for.  Sadly, as with most former Yankees players, they can charge a bunch and sell out tickets quickly so that avenue was closed to me.

But Ebay?  Yes, Ebay is a collector’s friend.

And if you are patient enough, you too can bring home an item like this for a very, very affordable rate.

So, I did.  And I could not be more pleased!!!

A fantastic addition to my signed baseball collection.

These things you keep

You better throw them away

You want to turn your back

on your soulless days

Once you were tethered

now you are free

That was the River – this is the Sea

- Mike Scott (7-Muluc) and The Waterboys

1-Imix: Go Back in time This Time

There’s only so far I can go forward before I begin going back.

When water reaches the sea and becomes ONE it gets as far as it can go. Anything that transpires afterwards is already considered going back. Water will return to the mountains and begin a new journey through the veins of the land and my veins, too.

This is the overall ‘gestalt’ vibe I’m picking up around me and also deep inside. I keep hearing the words ‘critical mass’ and ‘event’ from people and texts here, there, and everywhere. It is the transition from the river consciousness to the Sea allness.

Oh, and please don’t dwell on the word ‘event’. For your own good.

At the same time, to truly convey this message I sense that my best course of action right now is to stop writing. My experiences away from the keyboard (in the ‘real world’) have all of the sudden turned so engaging and vivid. When I meet friends, when I’m at home having diner – it’s just being there.

Regardless, I love writing, and will keep at it as long as someone out there is reading and syncing with me. Even if words and dissections of thought and language seem to be counter-productive at this moment, they remain my link to my past and to the great people who wrote before me and with me.

We all tap into the global mind to write, read, and speak; each tracing a path up his specific branch of Language. This human principal is known as Mercury, or Kukulkan, or Moses, Nabu, Hermes – among many other names.

But now, apart from the Mercury aspect of it, I realize that I tap into the much deeper global heartbeat (Caban) every time I emote somehow, internally or externally. When I watch a moving movie, when I pick a child up in my hands. When I can’t sleep and step outside at 3 AM to watch all those Stars.

No thinking, no wild day-dream imagining – just conversing on the spot with the situation, with that other me out there.

Is it time to put down all speculation, for the sole purpose of dissolving all our respective Sequences of Causality?

Is it time to begin emoting, acting, and talking under the firm conviction that those are the only factors that create subjective Reality?

Is this a complete overhaul of the concept of responsibility?

It is.

For my own part, I’m going to look into how the Tzolkin works when it is measured backwards. I mean, I always wanted to build a time machine, and you’re welcome on board!

Under the hood

The closing (1-Lamat) and opening (1-Imix) trecenas each has just one portal day: the former ends on a portal day, while the latter begins on one. There is only one other pair of trecenas that have this unique quality:

• 1-Manik has only one portal day – at the end (13-Cauac)
• 1-Ik has only one portal day – at the beginning (1-Ik)

Look at the Tzolkin “map” and tell me – can you see a pattern taking shape?

Important Note: If you get this post via email, stay tuned online and come back soon for more updates on this post in the following days, leading up to 1-Ix and beyond!

Updated through: 4-Kan

1-Imix: Leviathan

Born on this day: Amy Smart, Jennifer Aniston, Billy Wilder, Billy Bob Thornton, Alan Watts, Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot), Nick Cave, Scott Kazmir

“Sooner or later everyone needs a haircut.” – Billy Bob Thornton (1-Imix), The Man Who Wasn’t There

Portal Day

Here we go again ’round the World-Tree Bush (unless you visited Momostenango and switched to 8-Chuen along with Kenneth).

This time, I’m reflecting on yesterday, too – 13-Ahau, which was also a portal day. Then, I’ll proceed to count days forwards and backwards, and under each day you’ll see today’s kin (big) next to the corresponding day counting backwards (small). I’ve only just began using this method, and can already see some interesting patterns evolving.

Keep in mind that in about 65 days there would be a max/min convergence of the two counts, and between 13-Oc and 1-Chuen the counts will flip over. That’s just math.

1-Imix is a like cooking a full meal that’s based on a bunch of ancient recipes  - for the first time ever. Here’s the deal:

• You found these recipes filed in a forgotten cache somewhere.
• Some of the preparation methods and tools are outlandish and alien to you. There’s plenty to learn.
• Some of the quantity statements in the recipe seem a bit vague, maybe even in units you don’t know. You might need to dial grandma’s number later.
• Most importantly – all the ingredients are in front of you.

At the very least, you know that this small cache can turn into a dynamite dinner – if you can only decipher these recipes. Along the way, you’re bound to enhance your culinary skills and knowledge in a very unique way – by tracing an old cultural and familial landmark that is very near and dear to you.

=

Now, the recipes are 13-Ahau, stashed away by your forbearers, in desperate hope that someday their gifts will surface for the benefit of all the juniors. “Maybe through these amazing dishes the kids will forgive our misgivings.”

Just cut the Hair

In this trecena there are several personas involved in making the postmodern masterpiece that is “The Man who Wasn’t There” (2001). The first (naturally) is the leading role of Ed Crane, played by Billy Bob Thornton (1-Imix). In this next scene he’s in a dialog about extra-terrestrial conspiracies, leading to a mysterious assassination of a thriving (and conniving) businessman.

“Perhaps this will bring it out finally. Perhaps NOW it’ll all come out!”

- Ann  Nirdlinger Brewster, acted perfectly by Katherine Borowitz (what’s her birthday?)

2-Ik: Spirit

Born on this day: Ezra Pound, Slash (Guns n’ Roses), Kylie Minogue, Cynthia Nixon

“I recognized my own creative voice filtered through those six strings, but it was also something else entirely.” – Slash (2-ik) biography by Anthony Bozza & Mason Segal

2-Ik, resonating with 12-Cauac.

Continuing the discussion about Hermes/Mercury, Ik is the initial appearance of Mind and Spirit in the standard uinal (20-day period). It blows both ways. Wind begins with the number 2, since the first number that ever appeared in awareness WAS 2. It wasn’t One. One came right after.

Back to the kitchen, 2-Ik is when I start thinking – who am I going to subject to experimentation trying these old recipes? Which dish should I start with – the most familiar or the experimental one? Should I do it this weekend or wait for the holidays? All these questions are reflected against friends and other trusted advisers, as the energy of Ik brings good communication and ideas.

All this inquiry right at the kick-off sounds very logical and basic. It seems to carry a lot of weight when it is under consideration, but inquiry gets replaced by action and done decisions soon after. However, I know I’m going to look back on those actions and decisions after they play out. So it is very important to experience this practice in basic mental duality thoroughly, and maybe to take down some notes for future reference.

==

12-Cauac is like the last time you had a real good spa and shower, so to speak. It’s when all the good ideas for next time came to mind, as the body sang and purified itself in Water. Cauac also ties in nicely with Mercury and its learning/teaching aspect.

Cauac and Ik have an interesting link between them. 4-Ik takes place in the 1-Cauac trecena, meaning that the Wind defines the boundaries in which the Storm moves and acts. The wind is actually the main force that creates, drives, and dissolves Storms.

A Virginal

By Ezra Pound (2-Ik). Read by unknown.

3-Akbal: Campfire

Born on this day: Dennis Hopper, Louis C.K., John Williams, Jason Stathem

“The meal is not over when I’m full. The meal is over when I hate myself.” – Louis C.K. (3-Akbal)

At this juncture we arrive at the first burner-day match between the two sun-signs (Akbal and Edznab). We’ll have two more before this trecena is done. Can you guess at what stages?

Akbal is the dark house of the underworld, where we spend the night until dawn arrives. It is the sign of inspiration and intuition – of storytelling. When you meet someone born under this sign s/he’ll always have a story to tell you; something that makes perfect sense, and at the same time – based on profound spiritual truth.

The 3rd stage stands for exuberant action and communication on all levels and in all directions. Thus, 3-Akbal is like an engine of gut-reactions and rudimentary logic that drives the most physical trecena on offer (1-Imix).

===

Edznab shares many traits with its quad member Akbal, and adds its own special touch to them. A good story must have its own internal integrity of background and plot. This is what Edznab gives the stories I tell to others, and especially those I tell myself. Reflected in reality, the story that I’m a great husband (let’s say) must make sense. Reflected within myself and my values – integrity must be maintained.

However, 11-Edznab is an anti-climax kind of reality, so it doesn’t mean that all those reflections indeed make up a true story.

First and foremost, in order to be a true story it must be true also for my wife. That’s where the anti-climax might be lurking – when I actually ask her to find out.

Truth must be universalized (see tomorrow).

4-Kan: Plenty

Born on this day: Seth Green, Adele, Michael Madsen, Nigel Hawthorne, Sonny Rollins, Shlomo Artzi

“Minister, Britain has had the same foreign policy objective for at least the last five hundred years: to create a disunited Europe.” – Nigel Hawthorne (4-Kan), Yes Minister season 1 episode 5

The darkness and uncertainty of yesterday (Akbal) took some luck and good ideas to negotiate successfully. Now it’s time to set the boundaries for the next time Transformation is called for.

Kan (seed, lizard) is considered the most basic form of abundance. The seed is small, and can be stored in bulk in normal conditions without spoiling for a very long time. When it is needed, it is placed in convenient surroundings and conditions to begin growing. This means that 1 full silo of grain turns into bread for many thousands next year. This is nature’s abundance in its most humble form.

As another southern sun-sign (Eb) teaches,  the most humble have the best chances to achieve abundance. I don’t mean humble like a mendicant necessarily. I mean humble like someone who has the gift of listening.

4-Kan draws four lines in the sand and says – these are the minimal criteria for the physical world (Imix). To illustrate what I mean, I’ll go back to the Kitchen. It seems like one of the last bastions of the physical world within my home setting (that and the bedroom, of course.)

Thinking about the banquet I’m preparing, based on those ancient recipes – here are some examples of convictions I come across on the 4th stage of my project:

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The mirroring combination is 10-Caban, what I dubbed “Manifested Heartbeat” on the 1-Lamat trecena. Now, Kan and Caban have a special link between them, since the 1-Kan trecena is immediately followed by the 1-Caban trecena.

Let that sink in for a moment.

This coupling of kins demonstrates to a certain extent that the Tzolkin structure can be used to count time both forwards and backwards. Two opposing stages (4 and 10) yielded a resonance in trecena sequence harmonics.

Caban is the living Earth that receives the seed (Kan) in order to manifest abundance. It is the field of space and matter which creates the conditions for any seed or idea to be implemented in the physical world.

10-Caban is the last 10th stage of the previous round. Its message requires that truth and moral be universalized in order to make sense to anyone and everyone.

5-Chicchan: LIFE

Born on this day: Srinivasa Ramanujan, Andy Griffith, Marilyn Monroe, Demetri Martin (comedian), Hayim Nahman Bialik, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Daz Dillinger, Sammy Ofer

“An equation for me has no meaning unless it expresses a thought of God.” – Srinivasa Ramanujan (5-Chicchan)

The fifth stage is a time for organization and precise forward movement. It always resonates closely with the intent from which the journey began, since the sun-sign appearing on it has the same cardinal direction as stage One. Here we have 1-Imix leading up to 5-Chicchan four days later. This can be interpreted as an intention to initiate and nourish something new on day one, leading up to that something taking on a life of its own by day five. 5-Chicchan is an autonomous and dramatic force of organization which actually governs the pace and timeline of the process it’s involved with.

If the intention on stage 1 was to build a house, on stage 5 I already know what kind of house it’s going to be, how much it’ll cost, what materials I’ll be using, etc. Most probably, the house plans have already been finalized by stage 5, and on-site work is already underway.

=====

9-Cib [TBD]

On this day in 1989, Bo Jackson and Wade Boggs led off the 1989 Major League All-Star game with back-to-back home runs.

I vividly recall watching this game as a youngster living in the Chicago suburbs.  And after the National League was retired in the first inning I was excited to see what Bo Jackson was going to do in his debut at the All-Star Game.

Well, Bo did not disappoint.

And after he touched home while listening to the roar of the crowd, Wade Boggs took center stage.  And he too delivered baseball magic.

It was a sweet start to a great game.  And a memory that I will hold with me for a very, very long time.

Happy Anniversary to Bo Jackson and Wade Boggs!!!

SHORTSTOP – DEREK JETER (7 HR, 25 RBIs, .303 BA, 43 R, 6 SB)

Who knew that suffering a calf injury that would land you on the 15-day disabled list would be a good thing? For Derek Jeter it was in 2011.

Jeter was forced to miss the 2011 All-Star Game so he could rehab his injured calf at the Yankees’ complex in Tampa, FL. While there, Jeter also worked with one of his first hitting coaches in Gary Denbo to find his old swing. It was that work that likely turned Jeter’s season and his fading career around.

Jeter came off the disabled list lacing hits all over the yard and he picked up his 3000th hit by going 5-for-5 and hitting a home run for No. 3,000 off David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays. From the point he returned to the Yankees until the end of the regular season Jeter hit .344. He ended the season hitting .297 with six home runs and 61 RBIs.

The question heading into 2012 was could he keep it up? Or was it just a fluke and he would continue his decline at age 38 this summer?

The returns are in for the first half of the 2012 season and it appears it was not a fluke. Derek Jeter is simply Derek Jeter again.

His 103 hits after 81 games was the third-bast total in the majors and Jeter was passing legends like Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken and Wade Boggs on the all-time hit list seemingly on a daily basis. There are thoughts that he might even have a shot at 4,000 hits, should Jeter choose to continue his career into his 40s.

Jeter simply may be among a handful of players that are the best singles hitters in baseball history. Along with Ty Cobb and Pete Rose, the current generation of players gives us Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners and Jeter of the Yankees. These four have to be considered baseball’s elite at what they do best: Rack up hits in bunches.

Jeter’s career batting average is .313 and the fact he is hovering over the .300 mark at the halfway mark proves he has not lost the touch at age 38.

The only thing Jeter may have lost is a bit of his power, though the most he ever hit in one season was a pedestrian 24 in 1999. He also is not able to steal bases as he once did. In 2006, he stole a career-high 34 bags. But he has only stolen more than 18 bases once in his five full seasons after that.

But everything else is still there for Jeter.

The only disappointment this season is his rather low runs scored total of 43 at the halfway point. Jeter has failed to score 100 runs in only three seasons out of his 16 full years in the majors. Some of it can be attributed to the fact that the middle of the Yankees’ lineup – Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira – hit around .200 with runners in scoring position.

Some of it may have to do with age. But Jeter remains one of the smartest base-runners in baseball and he rarely commits a huge blunder to get himself thrown out on the bases.

When you bring up Jeter’s fielding, the sabermatricians go ballistic because Jeter’s range at age 38 is not anything like it was when he was 28. OK, I will give them that one. Jeter does not have the range of an Elvis Andrus or Alexsei Ramirez, who both are considerably younger shortstops.

But Jeter committed only six errors in the first half. The Yankees can live with that and they will. The fact is Jeter has won five Gold Glove awards, including in the 2009 and 2010 seasons, and he is not going to give them back just because Bill James says he should.

IHe also is not going to give back his 13 selections in 16 seasons for the All-Star Game. Jeter will be starting in his eighth All-Star Game in Kansas City on Tuesday.

With Jeter, what you see is what you get. He is just a consummate professional who works hard at his craft and gives 100 percent each and every game. He is not only respected highly by manager Joe Girardi and his teammates but he also is admired by the players and managers on other teams.

Yep, “The Captain” who is affectionately nicknamed in the Bronx is just something very, very special. Cooperstown awaits when his career ends but who knows when that will be the way he is going now.

MIDSEASON GRADE: A-

BACKUP – JAYSON NIX (2 HRs, 6 RBIs, .228 BA)

Nix, 29, became Jeter’s backup when the Yankees decided that Eduardo Nunez needed work on his defense in the minor leagues.

With Jeter requiring a bit more rest, Nix has made seven starts at short in the first 81 games. He has acquitted himself well. He is not going to hit like Jeter and he does not have the dazzling range Nunez has at the position. But, then again, Nix is not going botch half of the balls hit to him like Nunez did.

Because Nix can also play second, third and the corner outfield spots he is very valuable in kind of Jerry Hairston Jr. sort of way.

Nix played his way on the Yankees’ 25-man roster by hitting .323 as a free-agent signee this spring. When Nunez was sent back to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Nix was recalled and it looks like he is going to keep his role for the rest of the season.

MIDSEASON GRADE: C

After playing only four games for the Scranton Yankees, Nunez suffered a severely jammed right thumb and he has missed more than a month. He should be able to return soon but the injury apparently is worse than the Yankees thought originally.

Nunez, 25, is still considered the heir apparent to Jeter when he can’t play the position anymore or retires. After all, Nunez was hitting .294 after 51 at-bats when he was shipped out after committing four errors in the first 19 games he played.

Girardi said the Yankees should have not asked Nunez to play so many positions like the outfield. So the thought is that he will concentrate on shortstop mostly at Scranton. But the injury has retarded that development and so Nunez looks like he will stay in the minors until the September 1 call-ups.

Unfortunately the Yankees not only miss his bat but his speed.

With Brett Gardner of the 60-day disabled list and Nunez shipped out the Yankees lost 71 steals from their 2011 roster. Nunez still is tied for second with four Yankees with six steals behind the team leader Rodriguez, who has seven after 81 games.

With Nunez shelved, the Yankees’ old standby Ramiro Pena is playing short at Scranton. He is hitting .241 with one home run and 18 RBIs.

The Yankees pretty much know what they are getting in Pena, 26. He can play the infield near flawlessly, he is an adept bunter and is an aggressive switch-hitter with absolutely no power. He has decent speed but he is not an athlete or a speedster like Nunez.

It appears Pena’s time has past.

The Yankees have an intriguing prospect at Double-A Trenton in 22-year-old Jose Toussen, who is hitting over .300 there.  But all eyes are on Cito Culver at Single-A Charelston (SC) in the Carolina League. He is rated as the ninth-best prospect in the organization. But that might take a hit.

Culver, 19, is hitting just .206 in 74 games there. Scouts are questioning why the Yankees made him their No. 1 in 2010.

OVERALL POSITION GRADE: A-

Barring injury, Jeter should maintain his climb up the all-time hits list while getting on base for the Yankees’ power hitters that follow him. The hope is those power hitters will actually drive him in more often. If Jeter hits over .300 with 100 runs scored and he hits about 15 home runs it will be a very good season for the future Hall-of-Famer.

Girardi has been smart in starting him in only 70 games at shortstop after 81 games. At the same time Jeter has played in 79 games by being used as a designated hitter or a late-game replacement. Girardi will continue to do this to keep Jeter healthy and fresh for the late season push for the division title and the playoffs.

With Nix, Pena and eventually Nunez is the wings, Jeter has three either current or former major-league players behind him. That is not bad depth.

But the Yankees really could not go very far without Jeter leading off and playing shortstop for them. He is much more valuable than you might think and he still remains the face of the franchise.

1990 Upper Deck – Wade Boggs

So, Wade Boggs was a pretty decent hitter.  Even though he sold his soul to the Yankees in December 1992, and ended his career with Tampa Bay about a decade before they were good, he still had 3010 hits and a career batting average of .328.  I guess you could say it made sense that Upper Deck wanted to use some fancy technology to show us his swing (turn your head sideways, it kind of makes sense).

However, Wade Boggs might be more famous because of the legend that claims he once drank 64 beers on a cross-country flight from Boston to Los Angeles.  Regardless of what the actual number was, I think it’s pretty clear that Boggs liked a little drinky drinky in his day, and we should help keep the legend alive for future generations of high-functioning alcoholics.

A couple months ago (wow, I’ve been doing this for that long already) I wrote about my superstitions while watching the Braves, things like how I wouldn’t move from my position on the couch when things were going well for Atlanta in case my exact location was the reason for their success, or how my making or missing a basketball shot was the difference between a Braves victory or defeat. You know, sane stuff like that. (How I Help My Team Win)

While all of that is, let’s be honest, crazy, there’s another group of people whose superstitions really do have an impact on the outcome of a game, and, oh, how I love the crazy stuff baseball players do to win. And I honestly believe their superstitions impact whether or not they have a good or poor performance. Why? Because it’s all mind over matter, baby.

When it comes to baseball and superstitions, you really can’t have one without the other. Superstitions are prolific in baseball. There are the classics, like wearing the same socks or hat or jockstrap every game because a player is hitting well. There’s sitting in the same spot on the bench, chewing the same brand of bubblegum, or eating an identical pregame meal every day. Basically, if it’s part of a player’s routine, it can obtain godlike powers of influence over their performance. Sound crazy? Well, yeah, ‘cause it is.

Actually, if you thought that sounded crazy, just wait. That’s kid’s stuff compared to some famous superstitions that bordered on straight Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I forget the player’s name, but I remember hearing about one guy who would only approach his locker from the left side. Could you imagine having to take an elaborate walk around the clubhouse just to get your deodorant because you had to approach your locker from the left?

I mentioned earlier eating the same thing every day. Well you’ve probably heard that Wade Boggs famously ate chicken before every single game – for 17 seasons – but that only scratches the surface of Boggs’, let’s say, tendencies. He was also said to take exactly 100 groundballs during BP, which, for him, had to start at the exact same time every day. As game times tend to change, I wonder if his practice just had to start at the same amount of time before a game, say an hour and 15 minutes before game time, or something like that. Otherwise, man, I bet every game he never got a hit in started at a non-routine time. That absolutely explains it.

I’ve never heard of Chipper to have any elaborate superstitions, minus maybe his socks early in his career, but I have heard of switch hitters who won’t let their left hand bats touch their right hand bats. Other players will only leave the locker room after everyone else has, but before the equipment guy. There are rules, people.

Everyone’s probably familiar with the classic ‘never step on the foul lines’ routine. Well, how about the classic brush your teeth between every inning you pitch? Former Mets pitcher Turk Wendell knows that one, and I once witnessed him do it during a TBS broadcast. I remember I found it as amusing as Skip Caray did. Caray was probably also thoroughly amused by the stories of Jason Giambi wearing women’s underwear to break his slumps, something right out of my favorite baseball movie, Bull Durham.

But I love that stuff, stuff that, if I wasn’t a baseball fan and knew better, would make me think these guys were certifiable. But they’re not. They’re just superstitious. They honestly believe they have to do these things or they will not be successful. And they’re right. They won’t, for the simple fact that they believe they won’t. And 90% of the game is half mental, right Mr. Berra? To paraphrase Bull Durham, and not for the last time, if you think you’re winning because you’re not getting laid, then you’re winning because you’re not getting laid. In essence, don’t mess with a streak. Couldn’t have said it better myself.

With a start time of 8:25 p.m., the game began as a regular pitching duel, scoreless for six innings. The Red Wings finally scored a run in the 7^th; the Red Sox answered in the 9^th. Next came another 11 scoreless innings (yes, you read that right). So then in the 21^st inning, when the Red Wings scored, only to have Pawtucket’s Wade Boggs drive in the tying run in the bottom of the inning, no one was particularly happy about it (least of all Boggs). The players endured another 11 scoreless innings until league president Harold Cooper heard about it and demanded the suspension of play at the conclusion of the 32^nd inning (at 4:07 a.m.!).

At this point, the crowd had dwindled from 1,740 to a mere 19 (excessively loyal) fans, each of whom received, for their devotion, season passes to the stadium. Not included in the count is David Craig, who by this time, was fast asleep. To the best of his uncle’s knowledge, David Craig has never since been to another baseball game.

And, as much as I love baseball, I can’t say I blame him.

I recently attended a game that had me questioning my own devotion to the sport. On Sunday, June 17^th (Father’s Day), my family went to a game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis (a rare treat now that we live on the West Coast) between the Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals.

First, I should explain a little about my own relationship to Cardinal baseball. I am a fan by birth. More specifically, my maternal grandparents were fans. My father (originally just another frustrated Cubs follower) became a dedicated fan by marriage. My siblings are fans. My husband and most of his family are fans. And now the next generation (with the exception of one nephew, who hasn’t been alive long enough yet to fully grasp that the Cubs are never going to win) is made up of Cards fans. Cardinal baseball is entwined with some of my most precious memories of childhood and family.

I am not the person who is going to recite for you the names and stats of every player who has ever worn a Cardinals jersey, but I catch the games when I can and generally follow the team’s ups and downs. I celebrated their World’s Series victories in 1982, 2006, and 2011 and my heart broke those years when they were close enough to taste it, but were ultimately unsuccessful. I follow them closely enough to proudly proclaim that they have the most championship wins of any team in baseball (because the Yankees don’t count).

Still, I have to admit, I wasn’t really that upset to see them lose the Father’s Day game to Kansas City. With the exception of a couple of back-to-back homeruns by Cardinals Matt Holliday and Alan Craig in the 6^th, it was a relatively boring game. The Cards were up by 1 in the top of the 9^th; their closer Jason Motte was on fire, throwing fast balls the Royals couldn’t see, let alone hit. There were two outs, two strikes, and I was already packing up my kiddos (a little bored, though they had hung in pretty well for little guys) when disaster struck in the form of a solo shot homerun by Kansas City’s Billy Butler.

Inwardly I groaned, but I was fairly confident that the Cardinals would score to end the game. They didn’t. Instead it went on for 6 more innings. Each team had chances to win. Neither did. And the thing about extra inning baseball is that it’s rarely good, because nine innings of baseball is enough to tire most players out. After about 11 or so, the fatigue begins to show. And by 14(when there really should be another stretch because a sing-along might help lift everyone’s spirits), has caught a big case of the Please just let it ends.

The crowd thinned more and more after each half inning until it was pretty much just us and the Kansas City fans. The organist got stuck in a rut of weary charge riffs. And we debated. Even nearly left a couple of times, but you just don’t travel 2000 miles to go to a baseball game and not see it through to the end. By the time it was finally over, the game had lasted around 5 hours. When Kansas City’s Yunieski Bettencourt hit a 2-run homer the 15^th, I am ashamed to admit, I was sort of hoping a little bit that the Cards wouldn’t recover (though I would have happily cheered for a three-run homer if one happened to come their way).

I am also a little ashamed to admit how truly upset I was that St. Louis swept the Royals in Kansas City the very next weekend, not, of course, because they won, but because they didn’t win when I was there to see it.

And I have to wonder just how long we would have stayed at the ballpark. Certainly (okay, probably) not 32 innings. The Pawtucket-Rochester game was continued, by the way. The next time the two teams were scheduled to play in Pawtucket, on June 23, in front of a sellout crowd of 5,746, play resumed. In one inning (just under 18 minutes of play), the Red Sox won it in the bottom of the 33^rd inning. David Craig wasn’t there to see it.

SOX STATUS: The Red Sox have won 8 of their last 10 games (.800), tied for the Majors best record since 6/16 (also Texas, 8-2) and is 10-3 (.769) since 6/12…At 39-35, the club has matched its season high at 4 games over .500 (also 38-34 after 6/24)… Boston has won 27 of its last 43 games (.628), 3rd best in the Majors since 5/11, and has 35 of 60 games (.583) since 4/23, tied for the 2nd-most wins in the Majors in that time, trailing only NYY (36).

• A win today would give the Sox their 11th series win in their last 14 sets dating back to 5/10…They have lost just 3 sets in that time and tied once…The Sox are looking for a 5th straight series win…They last won 4 in a row with 6 straight series wins, 7/1-24/11.

TOP BACKSTOP: Jarrod Saltalamacchia knocked his 14th homer of the season last night, a game-tying solo shot in the 7th inning…It was his 10th roundtripper in his last 34 games since 5/13…He tops Major League catchers with 14 homers and 27 extra-base hits (tied) overall this year and he also paces AL backstops with a .539 SLG (min. 100 PA)…Of Saltalamacchia’s 7 homers since 5/26, 3 have been game-tying or go-ahead shots in the 7th inning or later.

TO THE LEFT: The Red Sox are 16-9 (.640) this season when facing left-handed starters, including wins in their last 5 such games since 6/12…Boston batters lead the Majors with 35 homers, 89 extra-base hits and 373 total bases against left-handed pitching this season…They also top the AL with a .473 SLG and .799 OPS against lefties.

• David Ortiz leads the Majors with 9 homers off left-handers this season and 17 XBH (tied, 1st in AL) vs. southpaws.

NAVA-GATING 100: Daniel Nava played his 100th Major League game last night…His career .391 OBP ranks as the best by a Red Sox in his 1st 100 ML games since Wade Boggs in 1982 (.404), 5th best by a Red Sox over the last 86 years (see chart on page 1)…Nava is batting .379 (22-for-58) in 19 June games, 2nd in the AL in the month behind MIN’s Joe Mauer (.404) (min. 50 PA)…He ranks 2nd in the AL with a .441 OBP since his 5/10 selection to Boston, also trailing Mauer (.450).

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Such misplays have a way of opening the door for teams, but Ivan Nova slammed it shut. The righthander got a big out when he struck out Omar Quintanilla on a nasty slider that the Mets shortstop foul-tipped into Russell Martin’s mitt.

Pitching carefully to Josh Thole with the pitcher on deck, Nova walked the Mets catcher on four pitches. Chris Young, who was batting for only the third time this year, went after the first pitch and hit a chopper up the middle that was gloved by Jeter, who stepped on second for the inning-ending force play that made his error insignificant.

The same could not be said of a muffed ground ball by Alex Rodriguez two innings later. A-Rod failed to grab a grounder by Hairston, and Quintanilla lined a double to left. With none out, Nova had to go after Thole and got him on a grounder to first as Hairston scored on the contact play. It increased the Mets’ lead to 2-0. They had gotten on the board in the third on Kirk Nieuwenhuis’ seventh home run of the season.

What was even weirder about the two errors is that the Yankees had not made an error with Nova on the mound this season, spanning a stretch of 86 1/3 innings.

Mets closer Frank Francisco’s pre-series reference to the Yankees as “chickens” continued to stir the pot of the latest match-up. Mets reliever Tim Byrdak went so far as to bring a live chicken into their clubhouse.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he could not remember hearing of a chicken being in a major-league clubhouse. But he did recall a time when Yankees teammates Wade Boggs and Jimmy Key went turkey hunting on an open date late one season but failed to catch anything. Girardi said the next day Key brought a frozen turkey from the supermarket to the clubhouse and gave it to Boggs, saying, “Here’s your turkey.”

Blackout!

They look awesome, but it sucks how ridiculously condition sensitive these things are.

And the last of the non-keeper Blackouts.

Get ur shine on..

Duos & 60s. Not much to say about these..

The lone gold. Not that it matters much. Let’s have gold parallels look like 2012′s Gold Sparkles from now on please..

Perhaps you like kicking it old school (or hair on the edge of your scan)..

The only original back I pulled. You’d think I would’ve remembered to scan the back, but no. This one is reluctantly available..

Tradercracks claimed these already..

Tradercracks also claimed this..

McCutchen is available though. But be forewarned that the patch is slightly loose on it..

That is all.  Everything not claimed by Tradercracks is available.  Thanks for stopping by!

Spin the wheel, make the deal…

Illegitimate son of Henry VIII, Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset (b. 1519 – d. 1536)

Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, Henry VIII’s illegitimate son, 1534-5 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

French painter, Nicolas Poussin (b. 1594 – d. 1665),

American singer, Waylon Jennings (b. 1937 – d. 2002),

American paleontologist, and notorious bad-boy, Jack Horner (b. 1946),

American actor, Jim Varney, aka Ernest P. Worrell (b. 1949 – d. 2000),

Professional baseball player, Wade Boggs (b. 1958),

Rapper and actor, Ice Cube (b. 1969),

Dr.s Howser and Horrible, Neil Patrick Harris (b. 1973),

Canadian fencer, Josh McGuire (b. 1983),

and me (b. 1980).

Helios and Phaeton with Saturn and the Four Seasons (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Besides my birth, interesting historical events that occurred on June 15th include: King John putting his seal on the Magna Carta in 1215, Pope Leo X threatens to excommunicate Martin Luther in 1520, George Washington is appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army in 1775, Arkansas becomes the 25th state in 1836, and near-Earth asteroid 2002 MN misses the Earth by 75,000 miles in 2002.

Whew!  That was a close one!