Congratulations, Cal!

I'm a little bit verklempt today. I've been spending the morning trying to figure out why.

At first I thought it was because I bought my wedding dress yesterday and that was enough fun to bring any SoxyLady to tears.

Then I thought it was because the Sox have a 9 game lead over the Stankees - and if we can just get that 10 game lead back I'll be soooo happy.

Ummm..but that wasn't it. My next thought was because they are having My Boys marathon on TBS today and I freakin' love that show and cannot wait for it to start up again.

But then I realized it's Hall of Fame induction day and my childhood hero, Cal Ripken is being inducted into the Hall of Fame today. I know this might be confusing to some of you, as Ripken spent all 21 years of his career with the Baltimore Orioles and was never a Red Sox player but I did and continue to admire Mr. Ripken. See, I have family in Baltimore and they brainwashed me from an early age. But what better role-model to have than a guy who played 2,632 consecutive games and just loved his job. He didn't need a day of "rest" to get his mojo back. He showed up, did his job and worked hard. What I love is that Cal continues to keep the game as part of his life, helping shape the minds of young players.

Congrats Cal (and Tony Gwynn) -- I'm so happy for you. So happy I'm a bit verklempt.

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Cinco-Ocho is a Horse, Dude

Beth, over at Cursed to First just posted this great video of a Papelbon interview. You must watch. He not only trashes Beckett and talks about partying with JayZ but also says Alyssa Milano never "did it for him." Ok, he is obviously too young to remember 'Who's the Boss." Haha.

I decided to watch more of those video gems and came across this interview Paps did with Youk. I had NO IDEA the team also referred to Tavarez as Freddy Krueger! Hahahaha!!! And, again, Paps is trashing Beckett. What is going on there?!

Good times, good stuff...even though it is a little creepy when Papelbon refers to himself as 'Cinco-Ocho.'

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Since I was sitting here biting my nails in this 1-0 game where the Indians are leading and Coco just SLOWED DOWN while trying to beat a ball to home plate to tie the game, I thought I'd distract myself.

I found this great site where you can write your opinion on various topics either editorially, or in the form of a debate, completely unedited and get paid to do it! Ok, so you aren't going to make a living off of it, but it's fun and at the end of it all you might be able to buy yourself a piece of penny candy (is there even a such thing anymore?) There are a variety of sports topics you can choose from. One I chose was:

Should baseball get rid of the designated hitter rule?

Of the 141 people who have voted so far, 62% say "No" and 38% say "Yes." What did I say? Well here you go:

Let me start by saying am an American League gal. I love the Red Sox and I do think Big Papi, David Ortiz, should have had a fair shot at MVP, however I am against the Designated Hitter (DH) position overall.

The DH rule was implemented to help strengthen a team's offensive performance during the game. The pitcher has been traditionally the weakest hitter. One theory is because they only get to bat once every five days and are preoccupied with pitching performance so they aren't given enough plate time to excel. Substituting the pitcher with a DH allows someone to be consistently in the batting order and decreases the risk of injury for the team's pitcher.

If every league were using a DH I wouldn't think too much about it but they don't. This gives the home team during an inter-league game an obvious advantage however that advantage seems to be bigger for AL teams. All you have to do is take a look back over the last 10 years and see how many times the AL has won the All Star game and World Series. So, in my opinion, having a DH not only messes with the symmetry of a team (separating batters from pitchers) but it messes with the symmetry of the whole league.

People say the American League (AL) is less strategic since they have a DH. It changes the strategy of when to take a pitcher out of the game in later innings and who should pinch-hit for the pitcher. But think about it, you are replacing a "weak" hitter with a "strong" hitter. There is still strategy there. Do you pitch around the DH and go for a double play? Do you put a shift-on in the field b/c you know where that player likes to hit?

I think players like Big Papi deserve MVP, so stick him at first and see what he does. Then again, I'm also for a salary cap and against artificial turf so what do I know? I just think baseball should be played like it was in the old days. But so long as there are huge paychecks (read egos), steroids and selfish team owners (why else would they charge $7 for a beer at Fenway Park?) Baseball is what it is today.

Do you agree or disagree with me? Why don't you sign up and write your own article? Just email me at SoxyLady33 (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll send you an invite. It's easy and it's fun.

Some other topics?

• What makes a great baseball park?
• Do fans hate Barry Bonds as much as the media portrays?
  
• The importance of first base and third base coaches

Of course, I'm highlighting some baseball topics because this is a Sox blog, but the categories are practically endless.

Yankees up 2-0. ugh.

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BoycottNikeNow.com

I just got this email from a SoxyReader and thought I would pass along the information on an official Nike Boycott:

Hi there-

I saw your post from last week calling for a Nike Boycott in response to them not pulling Vick's endorsement deal and thought I would let you know that my friends and I put together a site to start an organized boycott, and where people can sign up and send a letter to Nike.

http://www.boycottnikenow.com/

It would be great if you could let your readers know!

Thanks,
-Rusty

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Jason Varitek Shirtless

I'm just loving Google Analytics. Seriously.

First it tells me users are getting to my site by typing 'Mike Lowell Shirtless' and now I find out users are getting to my site by typing 'Jason Varitek Shirtless!!'

There are also these fine 'shirtless' terms

• shirtless baseball
• gabe kapler shirtless gallery
• history shirtless wonders
• shirtless red sox

So here's my question...where do these pictures exist (with the exception of the Babe, I mean Gabe Kapler ones...which we've all seen)? Because I want them.

Yep, I want to turn my blog into a series of posts exploiting shirtless Red Sox Players. Ok, maybe I don't want to turn my blog into that...but I'll take the shirtless pictures any day of the week.

PONY UP PEOPLE where do you find these? I'll have to do some research of my own...although not while I'm at work. I did a quick image search for 'Jason Varitek Shirtless' and got this result:


...Not exactly what I was looking for.

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Dear Jon Lester,

I don't want to make too much of this. I just want to wish you luck, and congratulate you on being called back up to the bigs. Go get 'em champ, we're cheering for you!

Love,
SoxyLady

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Michael Vick & Nike

Well, I got the same canned response as everyone else to my Nike email:

Response (Caryn) - 07/19/2007 11:55 AM
Thank you for contacting us regarding Michael Vick.

Nike is concerned by the serious and highly disturbing allegations made against Michael Vick and we consider any cruelty to animals inhumane and abhorrent. We do believe that Michael Vick should be afforded the same due process as any citizen, therefore, we have not terminated our relationship. We have however made the decision to suspend the release of the Zoom Vick V and related marketing communications. Nike will continue to monitor the situation closely and have no further comment at this time.

We appreciate that you took the time to contact us and your feedback will be passed along to the proper department.

Sincerely,

Nike

At first I was a little pissed, but then I came to a realization. Nike is likely FREAKING out. I mean if I know 10 people who have emailed Nike I can't imagine how many people are really contacting them right now. We can't all accept personal responses, even though it's what we think we deserve.

And you know, they ARE taking steps by deciding to suspend the release of the Zoom Vick V shoe. I'm in Marketing and I know this is a huge move on their part, that is going to cost them alot of money. It's the right thing to do. And by saying they aren't terminating their relationship, well they're giving him the benefit of the doubt (even though they know he is a disgusting asshat) until he is proven guilty.

So now I'm wondering, was I too harsh in my plea to Boycott Nike? Are they taking the appropriate, responsible steps? Hmmm....I'm going to keep on this.

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Mike Lowell is Hot

Ok, ever since I realized people were searching for "Mike Lowell Shirtless" and reaching my site I've been wondering what the draw is.

I mean, he's an OK looking "older" guy, right?
Wrong.
He's a HOT older guy!

I just saw this blog post on Cursed to First:

-----

Announcement

It's official: I have joined the Mike Lowell Hot-Wagon.

It took a while for me to come around, but this is what finally did it:(Source: http://thumbsnap.com/vf/F4CK1TR8.jpg)

Originally uncovered by Luna from Respect the Tek and Mike Lowell Hot-Wagon Ringleader Kristen and posted today on Surviving Grady.

-----
So I guess I'll just add him to my list of yummy Red Sox players (btw, I am so keeping Gabe Kapler on this list since he is officially still part of the Red Sox Organization.)

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The Yankees are Losers!

....at least today when they lost to Toronto 3-2. Even with ARod getting on base in the bottom of the 9th they couldn't come out on top. Here's our chance boys..bring our lead back up to 8 games. WE CAN DO THIS!

I did some soul searching and realized I can't get so down on our boys right now. We DO still have a 7 game lead, and while the Yankees play craptastic teams for the rest of the season we have a pretty craptastic schedule ourselves (save the trips out west in August and Sept where, historically, we don't do well.

And hey - maybe Drew will break out a little bit tonight and stop whining about his hammy. Vasquez is pitching for the Chi Sox and Drew has a .391 BA against him with 23 AB. That's nothing to scoff at. My dear Tek meanwhile is 0-10 with 5 Ks. Damn.

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Boycott Nike

From: http://www.jennsylvania.com/jennsylvania/2007/07/waiting-for-god.html

I WANT to call for a boycott against Nike, Inc. but I'm waiting for their response on whether or not they plan to continue to have dog-killing thugs endorsing their products, MICHAEL VICK. (In the meantime, (my husband) spent last evening with a seam-ripper, removing little embroidered swooshes off all his athletic gear. While our vicious, blood-thirsty, born-to-kill pit bull cowered in the bathroom because it was raining.)

While I was writing this entry, I got an email back from Nike:

There is no change in the status of the agreement between Nike and football player Michael Vick. Nike will continue to monitor the situation, but has nothing further to say at this time.

We appreciate that you took the time to contact us and your feedback will be passed along to the proper department.

Sincerely,

Nike

Oh, Nike...

It is SO F*****G ON.

Are you disgusted they've yet to part ties with Michael Vick? Then please let them know!

One Bowerman Drive
Beaverton, OR 97005-6453
Phone: 1-800-344-6453

or

NIKE, Inc.
USA Consumer Services
PO Box 4027
Beaverton, OR 97076-4027

or

click here for an email form and use it to tell Nike you don't buy products from corporations who ipso facto endorse dog fighting.

Please cut, paste and repost this information to spread the word.

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10, 9, 8....

I was not comfortable with a 10 game lead, I was nervous with a 9 game lead, I'm becoming pessimistic with an 8 game lead. Before you jump all over me, I AM a Red Sox fan. I HAVE been a Red Sox fan since long before 2004, therefore i AM NOT ON THE BANDWAGON and I DO remember what it's like to be disappointed over and over and over again....

There are quite a few things I wanted to talk about today, but time is not on my side. So I'll summarize instead:

Dear Michael Vick,

You are a disgusting excuse for a human being and I hope you rot in hell.

Your #1 Animal Loving Ex-fan,
SoxyLady

----

Dear Freddy Krueger, errr YoYo, errr Julian Tavarez,

Please take your head out of your ass, at least for tonight if the rain Gods decide to let up and this game gets played.

Love,
SoxyLady

----

Dear Red Sox Management,

It's pouring. Saying that the rain is supposed to taper off and the game will be played is just a pathetic attempt to get fans into the park and pay a million dollars for your beer and pizza before being sent home a sopping wet, broke mess.

I see through your scams,
SoxyLady


Wow...someone is bitter today, eh?

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STOP IT!!!!!!

Now the RemyReport is making me sick. Please, all of you stop this insanity. Unless it becomes a reality I don't even want to entertain the thought of this prick in my uniform. That being said. I'm not going to post any more pictures like this, I'm just going to (try and) ignore it.

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K-Dawg!

I was completely ready to name Dustin Pedroia player of last night's game. After all, he hit his fourth homerun and made, without a doubt, the best defensive play of the game. Gabbard threw hitless ball into the 5th but then got into a bit of trouble with the bases loaded. Tony Pena Jr hit a ball that bounced over the head of Gabbard and Pedroia charged it and threw him out at first, leaving the Royals with no runs.



But then rookie replacement for Curt Schilling, Kason Gabbard, pitched a complete game shutout. This was the first time a Sox rookie pitcher had done so in Fenway Park since Clemens in 84 (Paul Quantrill threw one in 93 but in Seattle), and the first time a Sox lefty rookie pitcher had done so at Fenway since Roger Moret in 71. How can you not name this kid player of the game? Since coming in to replace Schill during his days on the DL Gabbard has gone 3-0 with a 3.38 ERA and has 25 Ks!


I think I'm going to have to call it a draw and congratulate our kids (and yes, they are pretty much kids to me Pedroia being born in 1983 and Gabbard being born in 1982) on a game well played!

However, I don't want to forget to mention that both Manny and Papi drove balls out of the park! Woo! That is what I like to see!

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Blech

I'm sorry, but this picture on Bostondirtdogs.com just made me throw up a little bit in my mouth.

No really, I think I did.

There's been talk of AFraud wanting to explore his options, and how the Sox "could" be a possibility but I've been pretty much ignoring it all. Now here it is, in my face. ICK. No. What would I do? How would I react if this became a reality? How would YOU react? I don't want to imagine it. No. Ugh. Subject change time...

In today's pregame report Gordon Edes pointed out that Manny has a .858 OPS while our old friend Kevin Millar has a .861. Ha! How wrong does that look? Manny looks like he may be stepping it up a little bit in the second half, though. He had six hits and drove in seven runs over the weekend. That's more like it.

See...that's much better than thinking about douche bag in a Red Sox Uniform.

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Dear Captain My Captain,

You sure have taken a beating lately.

On July 1st Akinori Otsuka spiked you in the ankle to give you your own version of Curt's bloody sock and then just the other day Dice K beat you up a bit when you took that ball off of the chin and then your poor thumb. I'm sure I don't need to relive these painful memories for you.

Papi is not himself lately. We know about his knee injury, but besides that he just doesn't look like he's having fun playing the game. Is there something else going on that we don't know about?

Sure Lugo's starting to hit now, and that brings a little comfort but not enough to make up for the fact the Yankees are only 9 games behind. This is WAY too close for comfort for me.

I guess what I'm trying to say, Oh Captain my Captain, is stay strong. We need you, and every time you get one of these injuries I cringe and get a big knot in the pit of my stomach. Use your Superhumon Captain abilities to bring this team together and make them smile. The bats will follow.

Love and all that stuff,
Soxy Lady

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Matt Damon Disses the Stankees

This is a bit more than a month old, but man it's funny and I had never seen it before. So I thought I'd share it, in case you missed it as well.

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Demise of the Evil Empire?

ESPN.com is reporting that not does A-Fraud refuse to negotiate with the Yankees before the end of the season but Jorge Posada (George Posaaaaaddddddddddaaaaa) said he's excited to test the market at the end of the season.

I know aging catchers aren't always top prospects for team, but Georgie boy's been having a phenomenal year for himself. I may not even hate him so much if he wasn't wearing a uniform. He does a lot for charity, especially the Jorge Posada Foundation which reaches out to families who have a child with Craniosynostosis.

Read more about A-Fag and Posada here.

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Mike Lowell Shirtless!

Ok, not really...but I was looking through my analytics tool and noticed I've had visitors to the site from the keyphrase "mike lowell shirtless."

I was wondering how that happened so I went to Google and typed in the term and lookie here! I rank in position seven!!!!!

My snippet never really put "mike lowell" and "shirtless" together - neither did my blog post.
-----
Soxy Lady
8:19 - RBI double down the left field line for Mike Lowell! ... game when he drew a diagram on some poor shirtless Royal's fan chest...advising him where to ...
soxylady.blogspot.com/ - 90k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
-----

The shirtless wonder I was talking about can be seen on these YouTube videos (it's damn funny...although the first one, your really don't need to watch past the two minute mark).





I think the thing that makes it more funny is that it was only the second game of the season.

I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to look around to see if I could find any shirtless pictures of Mike Lowell...but I couldn't! I'm sure they exist somewhere but not that I was able to find. What I can leave you with, is this shirtless picture of Gabe Kapler from Cantstopthebleeding.com - which should put a smile on your face!

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2007 Baseball Season, Part Zwei

I don't really want to talk about how the AL won the All Star game...again...Or how Papi likely needs knee surgery...Or speculate on Schill's return and why they've been so quiet about it...

If you are interested in any of those topics, I have a blog roll of other great Sox blogs and you should really check them out. It's not that I'm opposed to the topics, at all...I just don't want to get depressed. I want to be ramped up going into the second half of this season. I'm a Red Sox fan, after all, and I know getting too optimistic means we're destined for failure.

Maybe reading quotes like this:
"56 of Boston’s remaining 75 games are against teams that were below .500 at the break."
should allow some optimism to show through, but honestly that just scares me a little. Because if we lose to sucky teams like that, we, well...we'd just be the Red Sox being the Red Sox.

So instead of all that, I'm switching gears. One of my friends on Facebook posted about his way cool bathroom. Remember a few years ago that piece on Boston.com about Manny's son's bedroom? It's kinda like that. And I'm jealous. Here's what he posted on his website:

Sorry for the low res pics -- I need a new camera.... slickdeals.net here I come!
The first thing you see is the bathmat on the floor.

A picture of GATE E at Fenway Park, the entrance used to get onto the Green Monster. Jodie & my first game was on June 23, 2003 on the Green Monster. Many thanks to my old (and oh so nerdy) housemate Mike for getting us those tickets. It's definately an experience I won't forget!

Welcome to my GATE E.

How do you open cabinets in a baseball themed bathroom? With baseball knobs of course.
Boston Red Sox Fenway Park Logo mural that sits above the toilet -- designed by M-C of mclamarre.com

This pic is sideways. It is, however, a painted foul pole line in the bathroom. If you look closely you can also see my new baseball shower radio.

A picture of Fenway Park's famous Manual Scoreboard.

My Boston Red Sox Fenway Park Manual Scoreboard Mural -- designed by M-C of mclamarre.com.

The scoreboard is of the June 23rd, 2003 game which was the first game Jodie & I went to.

A picture of the shower, with the GATE E sign above it. Also in frame is the Red Sox Logo Mural.
They no longer make single team MLB shower curtains. Using vinyl Boston
"B" stickers and a red shower curtain, I made one in little over 12 hours.

A closeup of the Baseball Shower Curtain Hooks

A closeup of the shower curtain. It took 12+ hours to affix all the Boston B stickers on the curtain.

A Boston Red Sox Toilet Seat. No really.

With some help from Bud, I managed to build a baseball bat towel rack. LEFT
SIDE

RIGHT

What Red Sox bathroom would be complete without Red Sox Towels?

Don't forget to wash your hands on the way out... SOAP DISH

Pretty cool stuff, huh? I think the only thing it needs to be complete is a roll of Yankees toilet paper! Good job, Prarit!

Do you have a "Red Sox Room" you want me to feature? Just email me: soxylady33 gmail com.

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Hey Now, You're an All Star....

Over the past few years I've started to dislike the All Star game as much as the rest of you haters. While I think it's become pointless, and I'd rather my boys not get hurt during the course of the game trying to "show their stuff", I do like the whole home field advantage thing. I mean the AL overpays, I mean pays out how much more in salary than the NL? I'm going to guess about three times, but I'm too lazy to go look it up. We should ALWAYS win this thing and we pretty much do. We should be psyched as AL followers to always have the WS home field advantage in our pockets.

Looking back over the past 10 year All Star games the AL has a record of 9-0-1. They have outscored the NL 63-38. I think each one of us would argue that home field advantage has, well, it's advantages. But how much, really? Because even winning home field advantage for the past 10 years (what happened the year of the tie anyway?) the ALs record for WS wins over the past 10 years is 6-4.

Growing up in a house where my father cheered for the Pirates (hey I liked Bonds when he was part of the killer Bs!), I'd like to see something swing in the way of the NL once in a while (when it doesn't hurt the Sox, of course). I don't even think we should go back to the old way of alternating every year. Well wait, because I was going to say the advantage should go to the team who had the best winning percentage throughout the year. So does that mean essentially the same thing? The AL will always have the advantage? I just don't know. See when I try and talk stats my head gets mushy.

I must stop.

You know why I'm looking forward to the All Star Game this year? Manny made his appearance and doesn't seem like such a schmuck anymore. And, well, there's always the hope that ARod gets beaned and causes a big brawl. Could be a good time.

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I'm Bringing Soxy Back...

That's right. You heard it here first, I'm going to commit to becoming a regular in the blogesphere again. I've missed you, and I know ya'll have missed me. The emails I have gotten prove it...all two or three of them.

But seriously, it's the All Star Break. This is usually the time of the season where i start to get a little depressed and worry about being disappointed by my boys. This year is different.

We're a full ten games ahead of both Toronto and NYA. While that is not a fist-clenching-WE-DID-IT lead, it's a damn good one and it will take some effort to blow it. PLUS Toronto and NYA are both 8.5 games back in the Wild-Card race.

I'm going to have to keep a close eye on Detroit. This being swept thing...no good. And is it a preview to the 2007 ALCS? Very well could be. I do know we won't get swept twice and hopefully we'll have some home field advantage..oh and a better pitching line-up, jeez!

(photo courtesy of MLB.com - click on it to see larger image)

Happy All Star Break Everyone! I'm baaaacccckkkk....

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Let's Go Lugo...

I gotta say I'm impressed with Red Sox fans...instead of booing Lugo (to his face, we all know every Sox fan has bashed him behind his back) they show undying support and lift the guy up to get his first hit in 34 at bats!



It wasn't just any base hit, either. It drove in two runs to give the Sox a 3-0 lead over Kazmir and his former team, Tampa Bay.

So he struck out at his next at bat...we weren't expecting miracles!

Edit: I need to put a link in to this post about Lugo's at bat by Beth at Cursed to First . She summed up my feelings on Lugo's and made me realize I, too, am ashamed at the way I treated Reneterror - I MEAN Renteria and Foulke.

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Ken Griffey, Jr.

I can't take credit for this post. I'm copying an email I got from my brother, I'm sure I'll do it more often now that he's given me the green-light to post his writing for all to see!

Over the last 15 years, has there been a more talented and revered player then Ken Griffey Jr.?

Baseball has had a lot of black marks recently, but Griffey has ever so quietly passed Mark "I cried in court because I know I cheated" McGwire in career homeruns while keeping pace with Sammy "I cork my bat and am linked to steroids" Sosa.

Imagine for a second if Griffey had not missed so much time due to injury (unlike Bonds who has an uncanny ability to grow new muscle). He might have been chasing down Aaron's record with Bonds–is there anyone that can argue that the country would be far more riveted if this was also Griffey's chase for that coveted mark? It's a shame that it isn't, but I'm still damn proud to have his rookie card!! (Thanks, Dad!)

On a biased side-note: how good would he have looked in RF for the Red Sox this year over J.D. Drew? Not too many players deserve a ring on their fingers like Griffey does. And his .292 BA, 21 HR, 53 RBI and nearly a walk for every strikeout (45 BB / 49 K) isn't too shabby for the nice guy on the wrong side of his 30's. Here's hoping he gets to 754 and retires out of respect for Aaron - it wouldn't shock me in the least from this once-in-a-generation outfielder.

I will have to go ahead and pretty much agree with my brother on this one, although I think Cal Ripken, Jr. could be right up there in the running!

And on that note, Hinske just hit a two out base-clearning triple so the Sox are now ahead of Texas 7-3. Sweet.

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