4-9. 5 games in a row - 5 games under .500

(AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

5 games in a row. All of them losses. From just keeping their heads above water to playing catch up. Such is baseball, and such is April baseball. No championship was ever won in the first 2 weeks of a season, so take heart.

I was on the road yesterday spending time with my family, and before I knew it, when I checked the score of the Patriots' Day game, our beloved Sox were down 6-0. On the road back, I had the latter innings on the radio in the car, and I heard Hermida's home run, so there's that.

At the end of the day, sure I felt disappointed, ultimately it sucked. Sucks even more seeing the Rays and Yanks at the top of the standings. But I still love my Red Sox, win or lose. Sorry no words of wisdom today, just keep the faith and keep on believing.

Around the rest of the league, I'm enjoying watching the San Francisco Giants. I don't feel that betrays my love for the Red Sox since they normally don't play head to head being in the National League, although they will have an interleague series come June. They really have a great chemistry; they really look like they're having a lot of fun out there. Between Lincecum's absolutely sick pitching skills and Sandoval's unassuming and quirky qualities, this is a team to watch, not just because they are winning, but because it always seems like a party with them, not unlike the 2003-2004 Red Sox. Maybe that's what the Sox are missing this year, maybe it is what they've been saying is a "bridge" year, a team built with spare parts. We will need time for the glue of this team to set and gel. Also it's amazingly difficult when you're starting your season against 3/4 tough teams over .500, we will need some bottom feeders to kick around to get our mojo back. But never give up on this team.

Hold on, it's going to be a bumpy ride. Some bandwagoners may fall off or take that bridge. Faithful and Diehards only need apply.

(next time: post #200)

A bit of update is in order

These long blogging absences have got to stop. Apologies.

Fortunately for me, my unemployment period lasted less than 3 weeks, so hooray for me. Sort of.

I go from one large company to an even larger corporation, but a completely different line of work. I'm still trying to determine if it suits me well or not. The schedule is interesting in that I work nights for 12 hour shifts, 1900 - 0700, but I've adjusted to that, so long as I get a sufficient amount of sleep, which means I must sleep in until 2-3pm in the afternoon after hitting the sack around 7:30-8am. My schedule will stay the same: Wednesdays through Fridays, and working every other Saturday. Either way you cut it, if you're working the other side of the schedule, you're working half the weekend. Since I'm no longer a young party person, I don't really miss having Friday night off, I'd rather enjoy a quiet Sunday/Monday/Tuesday out and about, running errands and such.

Spring training is in full swing and couldn't be happier that the dawn of the 2010 Major League Baseball is upon us. Currently watching the debut of Stephen Strasburg in the Tigers/National game. Strasburg the bright spot in the game pitching 2 scoreless innings, now the Nats are getting smoked by the motor city kitties. No televised Red Sox game today (not until Sunday will there be next one) but they are looking good so far this spring. It's a shame a lot of the young kids won't make the club at the beginning of the season as there is limited space unless an injury occurs. With a rotation like Beckett, Lester, Lackey, Matsuzaka, Buchholz; starting lineup of Ellsbury, Pedroia, V Martinez, Youkilis, Ortiz, Beltre, Cameron, Drew, Scutaro; bench of Hermida, Varitek, Kotchman, Lowrie ; Bullpen of Papelbon, Okajima, Wakefield, DelCarmen, Ramon Ramirez, Bard, Bonser - that makes a full team of 25 (and yes that is all from memory). Much has been said about what is perceived to be a smaller offense - I don't believe the hype. Ortiz will be back to form much more quickly this season, Beltre, Cameron & Hermida will be better than expected so long as they mesh well with the team.

With our family's new Nintendo Wii, I HAD to get the current MLB video game. I'm currently embarking on a full 162 game season. I lost the entire first series against the Yankees, after leading in early innings, losing big in later innings as the Yankees are prone to do (as I was still learning the controls, so I will grant them that). Since then I have swept the Royals in that series, including a game-winning home run by Mike Cameron in the top of the 9th to win it 2-1, and CG shutouts by Beckett over Greinke and Lackey vs. the Twins (Mauer is rated 100 for contact and a very tough out).

On the music front, is it possible to already nominate 3 of the worst songs of the year? All equally awful: Bedrock, Hey Soul Sister, and Party in the USA (although there is an amusing mashup with Notorious BIG of Party & Bullshit by Hathberger).

For last year's worst song, I'd have to say Empire State of Mind because of the Yankee World Series implications. Ugh. Love NYC but HATE THE YANKEES.

Oh, and we taught Sierra to boo the Yankees. Good times.

Now THAT'S more like it.

Just when I think you couldn't possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this… and totally redeem yourself!

Yes I'm looking at you, Mr. Epstein. Signing John Lackey is a very good thing. Mike Cameron ain't half bad either (most of my Cameron memories are from the beginning of his career with the Mets, I thought he was going to go somewhere, maybe he'll finally get that ring with the Red Sox in '10).

Yankees might have murderer's row, but would you want to face a rotation like: Beckett, Lackey, Lester, Matzusaka (non-WBC year), Buchholz/Bonser/Wakefield?

Now, let's round things out with some hitters. Losing Bay and Lowell doesn't help, but there isn't enough Pepcid AC in the world that will help me through all the 1-run pitchers duels we might encounter in '10.

What happened to my team?

Ok, I know it's not MY team but Theo's team. But what in the world is going on with the Hot Stove winter meetings this year? Honestly... the Red Sox are passing on Granderson, Bay, and Hanley Ramirez in favor of Marco Scutaro, Boof Bonser, and Max Ramirez? Who? Are we going for the team with the goofiest names? How do you expect to compete with the Yankees with moves like these? This seems to echo last year's lack of fanfare when we passed on AJ Burnett, CC Sabathia, and Mark Teixeira. What team got them last year? And what team won the world series?

Call me bitter. Call me negative. But to be the best, you have to beat the best. This new lineup, sans Mike Lowell isn't giving me the warm fuzzies.

Updated 9pm: Also, I am NOT alone in this.

Missed it by THAT much

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

It's only fitting that I end the Red Sox blogging season with a photo of Papi since I began the season with David Ortiz. The only exception being that instead of inspiring as the king of cool, after a lackluster injury-riddled season, he had struck out. Such is the game of baseball. After getting 2 more games than previously anticipated, our Sox were limited to one run in last night's 3-1 loss to the 2008 American League Champions, the Tampa Bay Rays. (Gulp, that sounds very odd and looks even odder in writing!)

But that's the reality of it. The Rays played like they have played all season. They have finally earned the respect of the American League, doormats no more. 10 years after their inception, they have earned their way to play in the World Series. My hat's off to them.

That doesn't mean I'll be rooting for them in the Series; I know where my loyalties lie. The Phillies will crush them in 5 games.

Thank you, Boston Red Sox for a fantastic season and for putting up a fight to the end.

Keep Smiling!

AP Photo

J.D. Drew has a reason to smile. And all of Red Sox Nation is smiling with him.

Thanks to J.D. and his game winning RBI in Thursday night's historic comeback win, the Red Sox soldier on and play another decisive game. Do or die. Again. Backs against the wall. Again. Tonight, we take the battle back to Tampa, Florida with the faith of another miracle can get us through another game.

The Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays can bite my tweeter. Johnny Cash says so too.

Labor Day - one month to go in the baseball season

With the Yankees' season finally dead most likely, I've compiled this video, hope you enjoy. Happy Labor Day weekend! I'll be heading to NY to spend time with my family and enjoy one more shindig before the end of the summer. I haven't seen them since May and the new baby must be getting so big. Lots of photos to come, for sure.

Workplace hijinks and nature

Click on the photos to enlarge.


It was extreeeemely cold the other day so CB decided to wear her fleece on her legs.


I was bored so I needed to amuse myself by drawing a watch on my hand. Notice the time. Never mind my pasty whiteness.


No doggie appearances this week, this was the closest we got - DF brought in a gift she was giving a friend of hers with a Dachshund.


You must bring us.... A SHRUBBERY! Yes, one with red on the tips. Ooh yes I quite like that.


The Zen garden, replete with heelstone.


The dandelions are all but gone, but in their place have come these peculiar red flowering weeds that are actually rather pleasant looking, with their shades of purple in their stems.


A patch of the red flowering weeds.


At the crest of the hill stands what looks like a smokehouse or maple sugaring shack. Definitely abandoned, the sign above what used to be the door says "The Treehouse / Welcome".


The view from the crest of the hill looking across scenic VT route 100 to the hills of Waitsfield.



Clouds cling low to the mountaintops opposite from the lush green football/soccer/lacrosse fields on this leaden-skied day.

Oh, and the Red Sox emptied the dugout last night in a huge brawl. But of course you already know that. We won, too. The game that is, not necessarily the fight.

Pilgrimage.

Mecca.

Canterbury.

Jerusalem.

Add Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts to that list.

Speakers on for the full experience.

Here we go again

9:05 pm EST: Sister of Redbeard heading to hospital to deliver her 2nd child.

We still don't know the gender of the baby; he or she refuses to show him/herself in any and all ultrasounds. We are prepared for a very stubborn devil child.

9:29 pm EST: Red Sox - bases loaded with no outs for Manny Ramirez. Down 5-3.

9:34: Manny fouling off pitch after pitch.

9:35: Manny gets jammed inside and grounds into a double play, out at home and first.

9:38: Mike Lowell flies out to left field to end the inning, stranding 2 baserunners.

9:39: Realises that maybe this live blogging thing is bad luck for his team. However, baseball pales in comparison to the delivery of the newest member of our family.

Wednesday 14 May, 7:15 am: Receives call from Mother of Redbeard. Sister of Redbeard has been in hospital all night and received her epidural at 5 am. Any time now.

7:25: Redbeard leaves the house to commute to work.

8:30: Redbeard arrives at work, no new messages.

8:40: Redbeard gets call from Mother.

::drum roll please::

Rebecca Hosler was born at 7:52am this morning. No middle name as of yet.

7 lbs 6 oz, 20 1/2".

Pictures presumably soon to come.

Great Britain Journey, part 3

First, some updates.

1. The Humpy Emailing Puzzle Retard who ruined streaming audio and other frivolities at the job has left the company, her temp assignment was up. We threw a going away party, but it was more for us celebrating her departure than honouring her time there. Don't let the door hit ya, biotch! Walking into work on Monday was quite honestly a breath of fresh air, I really had to pinch myself. She really is gone! ::happy dance::

2. Sierra now loves bacon and pizza. We couldn't be happier. Until she gets a cholesterol problem. But at least now, no more bacon abuse. But she still loves her toast. Just wait until I get her up to a full English. Now that's a proud moment.

3. Elton John is coming to my town, MY TOWN!!! This summer to do a gig at the fairgrounds, but not during fair week. First time to Vermont I hear. I'd say that's almost better than the Queen coming to town. Wait, it IS the Queen coming to town! Who's next, George Michael?

Now to refresh everyone here's a link to
Great Britain Journey part 1
and
Great Britain Journey part 2

And now,

Day 15

-Edinburgh all day
-Edinburgh Castle
-Royal Mile
-Holyrood
-possibly an extra day in Edinburgh, depending on how much we love it. All plans are subject to change.

Day 16

-M90 to A92 to A915 to St. Andrews
-morning/early afternoon in St. Andrews
-A91 to M90 to Perth, where there's a Red Sox fan in Scotland I've met online who would get together for a pint. You know who you are, Nips.

Day 17

-M90 to Aberdeen
-short stop in Aberdeen for lunch and a quick walk
-A944 to A97 to A939 to A95 to A9 to Inverness.
-take loads of photos passing through Cairngorm National Park

Day 18

-morning in Inverness
-drive along Loch Ness down the A82
-pass Ben Nevis
-drive through Loch Lomond National Park, still on A82
-night in or around Glasgow, again.

Day 19

-drive south on the M74 to M6 to A66
-Lake district all day. Lancashire right and proper.

Day 20

-quick jaunt through Yorkshire National Park
-quick swing by Wigan and on to Liverpool
-remainder of day in Liverpool.
-Docks museum
-Beatles museum
-pass on the jokes please.

Here's one. What do you call a Liverpudlian in a suit?

The accused.

Day 21

-debate still exists in my mind whether or not to spend a day in Manchester or not, since I'm not much of an Oasis fan or Joy Division fan. I am however a fan of the Moz and the mighty Smiths, that might be worth the day itself. Please convince me people of England, otherwise I'd go on to the next leg that takes me through North Wales, Snowdonia and down the western edge of Wales through Radio 1 Aled's hometown of Aberystwyth. I'm the only gay in the village. (Is there a Llandewi Breffi?)

More to come...

(Red Sox win again, with back-to-back blasts by Ortiz and Ramirez! No easy feat in Detroit's enormous Comerica ballpark.)

What it's all about.

Photo by Brian Snyder-Pool/Getty Images

The boys are back in town. With hardware.

Nice win today, but what is going on with the Detroit Tigers? 0-7 is no way to start with such a talented squad.

Sierra had a gorgeous early spring weekend for her birthday. Still a little snow on top of Mount Mansfield but a beautiful backdrop for my little girl's party. We saved you some cake, and she got her first bike!

Back to work for me tomorrow, 4 day weekend's all over.
...

Tokyo Trip Summary

photo by REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao

So what have we learned, boys and girls, from the Red Sox trip to Japan?

1. David Ortiz is still the king of cool. From appearing in a happi at the sake ceremony to appearing at a Japanese couples' wedding, he makes every appearance that much cooler. I can't get enough Big Papi in the uniform or in street clothes.

2. Anytime can be baseball time. 2 days of waking up at 6am for the games was not all that difficult for me since my normal wakeup time is usually a half hour later. Not all that much of a stretch for me. However it's the 14 F / -10 C outside with 2 foot snowbanks that fool me into believing that baseball can't be played. Maybe not around here, the great white north, but somewhere in the world baseball is being played.

3. The Sox can beat Japanese teams, easily. Winning both games with such thunderous, ravenous Japanese fans in the stands gives the Sox some cred to overcoming the jetlag and away team environments.

4. The Sox still struggle against the A's. Thankfully these 2 games, considered A's home games, were played here and not Oakland Coliseum or whatever .com has claimed the rights to the naming of the stadium there. Reports say Sox fans outnumbered A's fans 20 to one.

5. Manny Ramirez is off to a hot start. Batting .333 with 2 doubles, a HR and 5 RBIs. I know, small sample size, but still this is nothing that should be ignored, he's had plenty of slow starts.

6. Brandon Moss appeared for 2 games in lieu of perenially hurt JD Drew, and got his first Major League home run.

7. Lastly, for Dawn, a charming picture of Lugo. That's a face a mother could love.

photo by AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi

Webcam Fun

Just a bit of fun with the webcam. I'm trying it out for the first time as it's built-in to this laptop. Pretty handy, and no, I'm not going to turn it into one of those pay sites. Even if I did, the niche market would be so small, but I'm not going there. How did I get on this tangent? Balls.

So yeah I was quiet round these parts yesterday. I was in car mechanic hell for the good portion of Friday morning. I go in for new tires and and inspection, I come back with new ball joints and spend more than twice the time and money of what I thought it was going to be. Great, there goes our vacation fund. Good thing I took the whole day off yesterday and not just half a day, I never would have made it in time. Plus all the errands we had to run in the afternoon, well I guess it's just life.

Also Boston lost yesterday, killed 12-2. Good thing Spring Training is only for exhibition. But it's good to tell that Julian Tavarez is only good for 2 innings, once around the lineup.

Being that I skipped a Friday post, there is no Friday Dance Video this week. I'm debating with myself whether or not I should scrap it as a bad idea. Since this is a Blogocracy, I will have a poll up on the right, you have until Thursday 13 March to vote.

Happy Weekend friends!

Insult to Injury

About a month ago, I wrote about THIS. As a reprise, I get my statement in the mail from The Evil Company, the one that rhymes with You Floss Moo Field.

They say none of these charges will be covered. And if I don't respond to the "enclosed questionnaire" within 45 days, this bill will be denied. Hmmm, funny, I looked and there were only 2 pages of statement, no questionnaire. I had to look all over it for a telephone number so I can call for my questionnaire that I never received. Now I've lost the statement and I need to call them. Nothing seems to be going right about this, and it really shouldn't be a hassle.

Forgive me for another soap-box moment, but please indulge me. Please continue in your support of Barack Obama for President, and if you haven't already, please rent the film Sicko.

Hopefully I won't get sick again too soon. As we were cleaning our room last night, we found a good sized patch of mold on the wall. Of course I cleaned it up with bleach, but I hope I didn't inhale too much of it, but who knows how long it's been there. We could have been breathing that in for months, who knows. It's gone now, but I worry about my long-term health effects because of it.

In good news in the past few days, Red Sox manager Terry Francona signed on for 3 more years, extending his contract through 2011. Hear that? That's a sigh of relief. It's well deserved of course, having won 2 championships in the past 4 years.

Lastly, shame on you HRC and Ralph Nader. SHAME.

Back to Basics

photo by AP/Steven Senne

Now that Red Sox Spring Training is just about in full swing (pun sort of intended), it's time to right the ship and focus again on our beloved Red Sox.

Just reading the headline today about Manny Ramirez (pictured above) hiring Scott Boras as his new agent gives me chills. Say it ain't so Manny. Scott is notoriously best known for guiding the careers of the likes of Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees, Barry Zito of the Oakland Athletics, Gary Sheffield, and Kenny Rogers; most of these have in recent years fired Boras. Boras currently represents 7 Red Sox players including Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jason Varitek and J.D. Drew.

It is no secret that Boras is well-known and criticized for his tough negotiating skills, and I suppose that it was this that attracted Manny to Boras, who may be coming into the twilight of his career at age 35. This combined with the fact that he is in a contract year would be very appealing on both sides of agent and player. As his contract is expiring this year, many options will open up to Manny provided that Boras represents him skillfully. Manny may play out the whole year or be extended on his current contract. As a Red Sox and a Manny fan, that is the most desirable outcome, no matter how much money they throw at him. But potentially there is the chance that another team may want to pick him up as a rental player sometime during the season and pick up his contract for just this short amount of time, and at the end of the season be a free agent.

The only thing that concerns me is that the hated New York Yankees would negotiate and pick Manny up. Manny's hometown is New York, however with the Steinbrenner's strict policies Manny would not be well suited for pinstripes. Coupled with the tendency that Manny has to take a month off to injury and age during the season, there are mixed emotions about this.

Roster Changes

As the final 25 man roster is polished down for the start of the new season, there have only been a few new arrivals and departures.

New to the team are:

• Sean Casey, 1B
• David Aardsma, RP

Gone from the team are:

• Eric Gagné, RP
• Eric Hinske, OF/1B

The only open positions to newbs would be in the pitching area, there may be a spot or two for a reliever, but other than that, the roster is very solid, as should be for our defending 2007 World Champions.

As reported in past weeks, Curt Schilling will start the year on the disabled list with a bad shoulder, possibly needing surgery. The picture is foggy for Curt's playing time this year. Personally, I think he's at his best during the post-season, so he can take as much time during the regular season to heal the shoulder, pitch a few games toward the end of the season, and bring the bloody-sock hero out for October.

I see the starting rotation like this:

Josh Beckett, RHP
Daisuke Matsuzaka, RHP
Jon Lester, LHP
Tim Wakefield, RHP
Clay Buchholz, LHP

Starting lineup is:

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Manny Ramirez, LF
5. J.D. Drew, RF
6. Mike Lowell, 3B
7. Kevin Youkilis, 1B/3B
8. Jason Varitek, C
9. Julio Lugo, SS

That makes 14. The bench includes:

• Sean Casey, 1B
• Coco Crisp, OF
• Alex Cora, 2B/SS
• Doug Mirabelli, C

We're now up to 18. That leaves 7 in the bullpen:

• Jonathan Papelbon, closer
• Hideki Okajima, set-up man
• Mike Timlin, set-up/middle relief
• David Aardsma, middle/long relief
• Julian Tavarez, middle/long relief
• Manny DelCarmen, middle/long relief
• Kyle Snyder, middle/long relief

That leaves no-one. No non-roster invitees or suprises, just a solid team up and down the lineup. Sure, they use the extras to fill the AAA and AA squads in the lower ranks, but that' s a good thing knowing that the farm system is well-equipped with excellent players top to bottom, waiting in the wings for the (god forbid it) occasional injury.

There you have it. Split squad games start on Thursday the 28th vs. Boston College 1 pm, Remy Standard Time. The first MLB matchup is Friday the 29th vs. Minnesota. Good times.

What I'm thankful for

Happy Thanksgiving America! Everyone else, happy Thursday!

This year I'm thankful for:

The Red Sox winning the World Series, AL East, and tied for the best record in baseball.

My loving wife who does so much, you are appreciated very much.

My sweet daughter who astounds me with new things everyday. Daddy wishes he could be with you more.

My friends at Survivinggrady.com, I can't get through a workday without you. Also all my other friends throughout the world, the world is a better place with you in it.

Mike Lowell re-signing with the Red Sox, and Dustin Pedroia winning the Rookie of the Year award.

Good health - I haven't gained any weight in years and I haven't been sick since last winter.

My extended family who is always there for me and my family.

----------------------------------------------

Don't eat too much turkey, you'll gobble your way into a tryptophan coma! Stay safe you travelers.

photo from: Kansas City Library www.kckpl.lib.ks.us/YS/crafts/

Changes, Awards, and Spurs

I've been doing some changes to the blog as you can see - new layout, new titles. I hope you, the reader, like the improvements.

Congratulations to Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox 2nd Baseman, for winning Rookie of the Year for the American League yesterday. Today the AL Cy Young award comes out for top pitcher, and really no-one deserves it more than Josh Beckett, the league's only 20 game winner, and probably most improved pitcher from last year. Next Monday 19/11/07 the AL MVP is announced, which with any luck should be another Red Sox.

Also I should mention congrats to Tottenham on their win over Wigan on Saturday. Clearly they don't belong in the bottom 3 and Wigan was an easy victory. Hopefully it's the kind of rebound win they can use to propel them back to the middle seven and finish somewhere in the middle of the pack and avoid relegation. I chose Spurs at the beginning of the Premiership season as my team to follow because it wasn't one of the big 4, their proximity to Cambs, Bucks & Lincs and my ancestry, but they placed within spitting distance of the big 4 so I had hopes that they would be able to make for some great upset games, although the season under Jol seems to have been lost, and now with one win and one draw under Ramos they are beginning to make strides.

I have also followed Everton and West Ham this season as secondary favorite clubs, and they have been doing better than Spurs, but I won't give up on my Spurs and Robbie Keane. I also considered following Fulham, just being over the bridge from Putney, where some of my ancestors lived for a time, but Fulham is a downright awful club. To dare is to do!

World Series Champs

I know it's 6 days late in coming. The champagne had all been drunk. The celebrating has quieted to a hush. The confetti has been cleaned from the paraded streets of Boston. The appearances on chat shows have all been made. And what more can be said about this year's illustrious championship run from our pirate band of personality? What a year it was, and now we await the presentation of this year's awards.

I am not a huge American football person, even less basketball or ice hockey or soccer/football. Nothing quite stirs the soul as baseball, that thinking man's game, as my beloved Red Sox. And the hot stove appears to be interesting with all the free agent sweepstakes. Less than four months until Spring Training, my friends, until it all starts again. You may resume normalcy now.

Why You'd Want to Live Here

Riverside and Newport Beach, CA, respectively, taken by co-workers out in the sales field. It seems a nice enough place to visit, but not to live says this East Coaster. I'll take snow and cold anyday over earthquakes, mudslides, smog, and currently, wildfires.

Let's go Red Sox! Game 1 tonight - wearing my new unnumbered authentic Red Sox uni that I just received as a gift from my employer! Yay! What a way to celebrate today!