mstar1

So Tom did I read you right back there somehwere that you have a fantasy team? Ive never done that, although it seems like a good way to go through the winter. Who's on your team and how does that work? Hows it doin/ ya need a 3rd base coach?................. Hiway is gonna end up disliking the Sox even more,. "The Dentist", Dr. Charles Steinberg, the Sox PR guy just hopped over to the Dodgers. ohoh I liked some of his stuff ( the Sgt Peppers team photo i posted was his and he generally treated the fans well), other people hated him, he went a little overboard at times...He ran all the music, the videos, the special events, the pregame ceremonies... I suppose he did do his job well. One thing is for sure he will milk the "50th Year of the Dodgers in LA" next year further than most thought imaginable. Some of it will be enjoyable -you'll probably get alot of the old players showing up- some of it may be grating (pray that they dont do the fan dating show like they did here-Sox Appeal-God that was really bad.....

sorry excie that sounds like a Rood awakening...

Im not a very good housekeeper, There was a finger print with a little grape jelly on my screen and one day he just showed up, I havent gotten around to cleaning him off my screen yet ...NAH..... he hangs out here: http://i22.tinypic.com/xf0s9c.jpg , I pasted him into my sig line

As Rocky said can anybody be surprised? I have seen this movie way way too may times already. Rood should get out more often and look around The eventual demise of these fringe personality cult groups is as predictable as the sun rising in the morning...

After watching the World Series Im a big believer in the value of young rookie talent as way to motivate a club to greater achievements I'll be careful to keep my eye on who is left unprotected in the rule 5 draft ....just reading excerpts of a few on those documents was pretty cool. It is such an important part of the game we know today with such gaping holes in it based in large part on hearsay, newspaper accounts etc, it would make quite a story to have it all finally filled in...I hope that whoever does buy them somehow makes them public, whether by movie, book or letting them be read and reviewed.... is it spring yet??

SLAP!!!! I just read this STORY(gotta sign up): Indeed that would be something to look through HERE'S the actual auction, Im comin over and lookin at them if you decide to buy them... meanwhile Im thinking of trading part time girlfreind A and part time girlfriend B in a package deal for fulltime girlfriend C with lots of future potential. I think I could go into a 3 year contract with an option for a possible fourth, maybe longer if we get through the firstseason successfully which is always tentative.......The 80 mil is out though.... if not I gotta see who goes unprotected in the rule 5 draft ( I hope nobody is lurkin here...)

when it comes up I usually mention it, although its probably getting sort of old by now. My studio is less than 1/4 mile from the old Alice's, Its still a restaurant and I stop in for lunch every now and then. Arlo is a local and the town is still exactly as he described it in the song 40 years ago ( 3 stoplights, 2 police officers, 1 police car..)..it hasnt changed at all .This past year I ran into an old guy who claims to be the one who called up "the police officer station" and complained about that hippie kid who was dumping all the garbage. What an interesting niche of Americana for that old quiet country guy.... All the people and parts of the story are true.....some of them are still around town....Arlo still does a huge Thangsgiving feast at "the church" every year My studio too is 'around the back just a half mile from the railroad track". If you are ever up this way be sure tio 'walk right in", I'll make sure you get anything yoiu want...

Teagarden,Teagarden, I still like Teagarden! ... of course having Coco as the platooning and defensive OFer is a nice option in itself...

I am away and have been out of the loop but just heard that as well. 80mil sounds alittle high to me, but it should be good for the Angels (although they are now overloaded with OFers-(is another trade for MCabrera or Santana coming up??)). If Hunter is getting 80m, Cocos trade value just went up...

I knew who you were talking about--I wonder if he is related at all to Jhonny Peralta or Jimy Williams... More news that you will probably never use, but was mildly interesting when i read it on the impact of initials: i read an article yesterday by stathead with way too much time on his hands ( whats that say about me since I actually read it...?)that did the research since 1990 and found that guys with the initial K in their name actually strikeout more often than guys that dont...It works for other initials as well ie BB (think Barry Bonds)... sort of an interesting psychological study It doesnt go into people who dont know how to spell their names however...! I really gotta go have agood thanksgiving!

Any of those guys would be exciting to watch (Andruw, Torii, Coco...)but i couldnt necessarily see building a franchise around them if there are a whole lot of other holes that need addressing too. Coco would probably be a good deal as he would come cheaper, be as good with the glove, give you speed, although he wouldnt drive in the runs ----you guys do need a big RBI guy though now that Texeira is gone.....so maybe not... hmmm-i dunno---I'd like a Teagarden but even the idea of keeping Coco as a fourth outfielder, if he doesnt mind doing that, is nothing to sneeze at. We will see, its starting to look like, unlike 04, that the Red Sox are pretty much going to stand pat, with probably just a few minor tweeks this offseason....

I remember falling into a pool, I was very young (2 maybe?) It was one of those inground pools of the fifties and the family and cousins were all together and I was walking around and just sort of plopped in because I wasnt walking too good yet I remember going down what seemed very slowly, or at least it seemed slowly, sort of like slow motion, and watching the tiles on the side of the pool passing by and the light and the blue from the water being alot different than anything I could remember. I could see the clouds above through the water too... It was really sort of cool! It was just sort of an interesting different feeling floating down with great visuals, then all of a sudden a violent yank happened and the next thing I knew I was wet and cold and in my cousins arms bewildeered at what was happening on the side of the pool.. I was mad she yanked me out of that cool little wonderland and slapped her in the face...My mother said 'thats not nice she just saved you" then took me....and thanked my cousin, someone offered me a sip from their soft drink can... I think it was root beer. after that its a blur for about a year or so until Beth Jenkins mother gave me a tuna fish sandwich that had pickels in it while Beth and I sat on her back steps--that was just too weird, I had never tasted a pickel before, let alone in tunafish and it woke me right up. It is strange what you remember- my grandfather made us kids toys and there was a chinese checkerboard with colored marbles, I was playing with it on the floor (way too young to understand the game) when I noticed one of the pure white marbles had a little black ding in it that somehow mesmerized me (did someone step on it?) just as the grandfathers clock started to Gong. I couldnt tell you anything else about that year but I remember that...

I havent even looked at the voting, They were ready to give it to him by April 15, which is one advantage of playing in the planets largest media center. Its strange, Hiway mntioned a page or two ago how there should be more writers from Minnesota, and off the map places. It would certainly help to balance out the game, or at least the perception of the game....................... (Edit) Ok I went and looked. I agree Magglio should have gotten more votes. His BA was 49 points higher, and with runners in scoring position he outhit Arod .429-.333. He didint have the glamor stats (HR's) nor the media coverage of NY. He was only 17 off in RBI's which if you have Jeter in front of you , you should have that many more..an argument could be definitely made that he was more valuable than ARod... If I had a vote I would've looked very closely at that, anyone that hits .363 and .429 with RISP (!) deserves alittle more notice... There was also a good argument for Ortiz. HERE is a well researched article. Like i said they pretty much had awarded it to him in April.... ........................ After the signing fiasco.. Somehow when Mike Lowell ( a World SeriesMVP mind you) signed yesterday for 38-39M it all seemed so much more reasonable..... ..... I dont know what Hunter wants $$ wise but I do think Coco would fit in well in Tejas. I dont know for all the extra dollars Torrii would get if he would be all that much moneysworth better than Coco, or if they should invest that in some pitching, which seems to be a perrenial problem wit yous guys. I'll trade my Coco card for your Teagarden card and a middle relief prospect (one that works this time preferably...)

I know I bug Hiway from time to time (maybe all the rest of you too..)I had to put that up-- Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone, Im off to Papas house in a few hours for about a week. Keep the log on the hot stove , I'll check in when I can

Thanks--there should be plenty of that in those parts as well.. Dont forget to wave goodbye to the Stadium if you have a chance while you are back east if you have a chance-

I know Laird is good to go which would be OK, Teagarden to me looks like a guy who might be THE guy for the future, there is no one really in the hole right now for the Red Sox to eventually replace Varitek who is the key cog. Thats my concern Coco is a good chip, a potential gold glover who has hit well from time to time, Laird seems good defensively calls a good game but is he THE guy, or a backup for a few years then an adequate but not great replacement? i dont know! But I would hope that the Sox in any trade are thinking long range The stRanger do seem to be overloaded with good catching right now, somehow i think they could use that to their advantage. I dont see the Red Sox making a play for a Saltlamacchia or a Martin but someone like Teagarden I'd be happy about, then they could find a stop gap backup for 08, while he is developing which would be fine at least in my little booklet to take that gamble on someone who looks like they could develop into a real stud but hasnt quite got the credentials just yet Im also wondering whats up with Johann Santana---where the heck will he land and who will give up a ton to have him on his walk year?

Have a good Thanksgiving Hiway--Im pretty sure that there will be all the Red Sox news that you could ever (never?)want while you are in Connecticut.... Happy Thanksgiving to you and the family Im suspecting that you are talking about Torii Hunter, but Ive heard speculation from both sides of Coco for Laird, of course talk is cheap especially this time of year but it might be a good fit for both of them....from what Ive read Id rather it be Teagarden, he sounds like he will be the real deal, but unfortunately they dont consult me in these matters.....(well yet anyway...Im here if the phone rings)

It was one of those moments from the year, that whether rightly or wronglly i am looking back on now and remembering, The Sox had been in the .500 doldrums for about 2 months. and a simple play like that on a passed ball woke everyone up. I dont ever recall seeing anyone else score from second on that play..In a seaon of cool things that one could, but shouldnt get lost I'll try to be less of homer in the future but good news just came in (for me at least): Lowell Stays

I waited a long long long long long long long long long long long time for these days, that during most of my life I thought would never ever really come except as part of a dreamscape which i would wake out of and be back to where I was. Oft times I wonder if Im really awake and need to be pinched. I am enjoying it..... every second of it,. If I fall into gloating straighten me out--I dont mean it, I was on that other side of the fence for along time..I know what it feels like---I havent forgotten---Im just thankful that this is all happening in my lifetime

Almost At least it was close

With all the stories about manipulating the market and making investment bankers rich, steroids and running after records Im glad that in at least in my neck of the woods i still get to see baseball stories that look like THIS Give me one of these baseball stories over twenty ARod stories any day of the week. Jacoby Ellsbury is incredibly exciting to watch on the field. He is Navaho Indian and been dubbed "Runs Like A Deer". Tom might remember his first game after getting called up, which was against the Rangers, when he scored from second on a wild pitch.. That was my introduction to him. He is the type of player that makes things happen, he hit .438 in the World Series and was the first rookie since 1946 to get 4 hits in a WS game... and aside from that, by all appearances he is just a really really good and down to earth kid that you cant help but like. if you have a chance watch him-he is a lot of fun and unlike certain other higher profile players hasnt forgotten what the game is about-hopefully he never will

Well like that article I posted wrote, I have to wonder just what the overall strategy of Boras was, whether Arod went 'over Boras' head', or it was made to look that way so that Arod comes across as some sort of good guy (yeah right) trying to salvage his public image somewhat. I doubt he ever wanted to go anywhere. I really dont know, I do know bottom line is that he got 275mil and Boras still gets his cut. The thing that Bumpy posted on the last page about Goldman Sachs stepping in also got me thinking, GS are part owners of the YES network (The Yankee Station), the revenues generated by (gag) the HR record onslaught will probably most be felt by all the extra shows that are produced about it ( and advertisers) on the YES network, and additional casual baseball fans they can generate to have an interest in it . ( sidenote: beware this is gonna be awful..). Boras had to know that Goldman Sachs being investors, smelling that potential loss may step in wanting to protect their investment and potential profits in YES. Which of course they did . Thats where the HR record clauses come in... I doubt that he was ever going anywhere but think the whole thing was a bluff by Boras, using the opt-out clause as a way to leverage 7 more years, not from baseball people, but investors who couldnt stand the thought of their bottom line decreasing. To me its just another form of gambling that has entered the game, but this time instead of some gangster named Rothstein betting on, and fixing The World Series, its investment bankers on Wall Street betting on and setting up the circumstances for a new homerun record to the detriment of the actual game.... Where the hell is Judge Landis when you need him? I hope that eventually there are more people like Kenny Rogers that come to the front and understand, that believe it or not, there are other things to baseball than dollars and cents.

I did hear that Kenny fired Boras Good for Kenny, Be fair to himself, be fair to the Tigers, and not go through all the stupid shenanigans to get on the team you want to be with like thebesttplayerinbaseballTM THIS ARTICLEfrom two weeks ago, by a professor of law at columbia has some interesting perspective on the ARod fiasco. He called it right on the money.

Your probably right on Gammons, of course I dont notice it as much as you would because Im out specifically looking for Red Sox news, he is a pretty good analyst and he does amaze me at the number of obscure minor leaguers he knows that are waiting in A ball, or the last bench guy on every team...He can be interesting even though alot of his conjectures, like most guys, turns out to be wrong I dont know what he is like as a rock and roller but they do raise a bunch of money every winter with the HotStove Cool Music fundraisers, which makes the probable mediocrity of it a whole lot more tolerable and fun... Anyway-the Red Sox have been entwined with the Jimmy Fund since long before my time, I think it was the late 40's when Ted Williams first got really involved. By the time I was young it was an institution that was part of going to the game, --drop your spare change or some money in the Jimmy Fund box. The Jimmy Fund has always been a big part of Red Sox baseball.. Like everything else, They have turned it up a notch and gotten serious about it in the last several years and now have telethons, fantasy days, and allsorts of events all year long at Fenway. Its actually pretty cool-- One of THE best moments of this past RedSox season (one you will never see on ESPN) was this kid, who sang the national anthem in 06, nobody knew if he would live , never mind walk again Then about half way through this year, they wheeled him out again to sing (polite applause)then after the song --he spontaneously took off around the bases...he had just learned to walk a very few steps a few weeks earlier it was the first time he had ever run In a loud place like Fenway, As he made his way around the bases It was probably the loudest cheering I had ever heard anywhere. Everyone on their feet-- players from bothe teams, coaches, umpires, vendors--every single person. It was incredibly moving.. He later threw out the first pitch for the playoffs. It was agreat moment that made me proud to be a baseball fan. I know all teams do wonderful things in their communities as well, As well they should, but I just have an especially soft spot for the Jimmy Fund since they have always been around and Ive watched them rise like the RedSox have and almost, almost, almost win a "world championship' as well. I hope they do one of these years, i hope they do. That'll be a special day. I'll do the Papelbon jig myself on that day :) Anyway-enough of that--isnt there some bad trade or free agent signing we can talk about.

I suppose that the good to come out of this, for me at least, that according to Peter Gammons the Yankees have withdrawn their offer to Mike Lowell to play first for 4 years I certainly dont begrudge him, coming off a career year and a World Series MVP to make the most he can off of it, but it would certainly be good to keep him around. He is a good ballplayer, and a good guy who i enjoy watching everyday. This from Curt Schilling: I dont either. ............ Speaking of Peter Gammons, if you are feeling charitable today, you can buy his Rock and Roll CD "Never slow down, never grow old" HERE everything goes to charity. If you cant get past the idea of listening to Gammons playing a stratocaster. Im partial to sending a chunk HERE every once in awhile. They do a good job. They actually claim to be very close to eradicating some forms of childhood cancers. Its a 'game' that is really really worth winning and 'rooting' for, eventually they will......