February 5th, 2010
February 5, 2010:
13 Days!
In less than 2 weeks, Pitchers and Catchers from all over the world will converge on their appropriate Spring Training location to begin Major League Baseball: the 2010 Campaign…Yay!
And while there will not be any meaningful baseball until April, knowing that the process has begun, indicates the light at the end of the tunnel…
So the buzz has already started about how the Sox HAVE TO sign Josh Beckett, as he will be a Free Agent at the end of this season–and you know what–They are right–Signing Josh Beckett needs to happen. If they could pay 31 year old John Lackey the crazy money they paid him (5 year, $82.5 million) for a 102-71 record with a 3.81 ERA, Can’t they pony up at least that much for Josh Beckett? Josh will be 30 in May old, and holds a record of 106-68 with a .379 ERA. And his .609 winning percentage ranks 10th among active pitchers… Read more…
February 3rd, 2010
February 3, 2010:
More This and That…
This has to be the WORST part of the year. Not only is it about 17 degrees out, there is buptkus as far as anything going on in the baseball world. Every morning and evening, I do the round of sports pages, to see if anything interesting is going on. And Guess what? Zero, zilch, nada, nuthin…
And while Joe Mauer signing a 52 year contract with the Twins in certainly great news if you are a Twins fan–it doesn’t really affect my life. And I am not going to whine that he will not be catching for the Sox next year, because I never really thought he would be–the Twins were the team to beat in that sweepstakes–he grew up there, and his VACATION home is actually IN Minnesota….So someone would have needed a mighty crowbar to pry him away from there–or the Twins being complete boneheads–and now it looks like neither will come to pass… Read more…
February 1st, 2010
February 1, 2010:
The Month Spring Training Begins!
Well, that was a bust: No tickets for me this year. To be honest, I did not camp out in front of my computer all day this year, I checked in for a couple of hours in the morning, and then checked back in around 6ish, when I got into the ticket purchasing area fairly quickly–but alas, the only seats available for the dates I wanted seems to be standing room only, or obstructed view…
And since I have NO desire to pay $50+ (with all the “convenience fees” and such) to drive 6 hours, only to stand for 3+ hours. Thanks, I’ll pass…
But, I am sorry, this is not what I would consider “tickets are still available for most games throughout the season.” But if this will work for you, you can get tickets here or by calling 1-888-REDSOX6. Read more…
January 29th, 2010
January 29, 2010:
Virtual Waiting Room Time!
Yep, it’s that time of year again, where thousands of less than sane Red Sox fans (myself included) pour themselves a giant cup of coffee (or whatever your beverage of choice is), and sit down at their computers at 10:00am tomorrow (Saturday) morning and hope they are one of the very lucky few who will not have to sit in the endless void that is the Virtual Waiting Room–at least without getting tickets…
I have doing this ritual for the last 9-10 years or so, with varying degrees of success; the best year was 2004, when I got tickets in about 2 hours–and yes, I know, it’s incredibly sad that I remember this kind of stuff…
What’s your name again? Read more…
January 27th, 2010
January 27, 2010:
Theo 8, Arbitration Bound Players 0
For the 8th time–which is every year since Theo Epstein took over as the GM of the Boston Red Sox, he has avoided arbitration hearings, always getting everyone signed before the time came.
The Sox have reach an agreement with the lone holdout Jeremy Hermidia yesterday, signing him to a 1-Year $3.345 million non-guaranteed contract–just about right in the middle of what he asked for ($3.85 million) and what the Sox wanted to pay ($ 2.95 million). And a pretty nice raise from the $2.25 million he made last year, considering his numbers were less than stellar in 2009: .259 BA with 13 homers… Read more…
January 25th, 2010
January 25, 2010:
Very little to talk about…
OK, I understand that losing Jason Bay was a big deal, and that there is precious little to talk about right now, but Jason Bay IS GONE–can we move on and talk about something else?
Apparently not, as the buzz around town is how Jason Bat was thisclose to signing a 4-year, $60 million deal with the Sox, and then all of a sudden there was an issue with his knee and his shoulder, which put the deal in jeopardy. Long story short, after 4 doctors, 3 of which said there was no cause for alarm on either his knee or his shoulder, and a bunch of hemming and hawing by the Sox, Jason Bay signed with the Mets…
Is it true? Who knows–I have always been of the opinion that the truth is usually about 1/2 way between 2 sides of any story…and never forget that baseball is a business…so let’s wish Jason Bay, Godspeed and farewell, and be grateful he didn’t sign with the Skanks… Read more…
