Mikey Likes Us!

According to Channel 7 News in Boston, the Herald and Boston.com a deal will be finalized tomorrow between Lowell and the Sox. A three year deal between 12-13 mill/year. Apparently after his trip to Disney World with the family Lowell decided he wanted to stay in Boston. YAY!

More on my lack of posting later...maybe....

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Youk To Shave His Beard (FINALLY!!!!)

Much like the hoopla that was made about Johnny Damon's hair, Kevin Youkilis is expected to shave off his goatee for charity. The Boston Herald is reporting Youk will shave his face for a $5,000 donation made by Gillette to his Hits for Kids charity.

(photo courtesy of the AP)

Nice work Youk. You're helping out kids and getting rid of that furry animal on your face!

Speaking of Youk, and his charity - did you guys know that he's officially engaged to Enza Sambataro? And that she has a son, Mikey? Is that the kid Youk was holding during the AL East Championship celebrations? I had no idea.

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David Ortiz Wins 4th Consecutive Silver Slugger Award

The Silver Slugger Award is an offensive award, which can be compared to the defensive Gold Glove award. The award is based on a combination of offensive statistics including Batting Average, OBP and slugging percentage as well as coaches and managers perception of a player's overall value to the offense of their team.

2007 marks the 4th straight Year David Ortiz has been honored with the American League Silver Slugger Award for the DH position.

All year long Papi has been battling the critics who said he's too hurt to play, or isn't playing as well as past years. While he may not of had as many homeruns as previous seasons, this proves his offensive value had just as much impact to the World Series Champs (I love writing that!)

"I would say, personally, this is one of my best offensive years here in Boston, all the way around," said Ortiz, who finished with a career-high and AL-best on-base percentage of .445, along with 35 homers and 117 RBIs. "I think [if] you look at my numbers this year ... I put it together more than some of the other seasons when people think I had a good season."

So there you have it.

I think it's also important to point out these six players who achieved the highest honor of both a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger award.

• Ichiro Suzuki (OF, Seattle)
• Placido Polanco (2B, Detriot)
• Jimmy Rollins (SS, Philadelphia)
• Russel Martin (C, LA Dodgers)
• Carlos Beltran (OF, NY Mets)
• David Wright (3B, NY Mets)
  

Congrats to all!

Here is a running tally of awards won by the 2007 Red Sox

• Kevin Youkilis, Gold Glove
• David Ortiz, Silver Slugger

The rest of the awards will be announced on the following schedule:

Nov. 12: AL and NL Rookies of the Year
Nov. 13: AL Cy Young
Nov. 14: AL and NL Managers of the Year
Nov. 15: NL Cy Young
Nov. 19: AL MVP
Nov. 20: NL MVP

I do think we'll be picking a few of these up!

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Pedroia Kicks Major @ss!!!

Since there is no new news to report on the MikeVP Lowell signing I thought I'd highlight another player who is hoping our MVP will return to a Red Sox uniform.

Dustin "F*ck Yeah!" "Kick @ss" Pedroia.

Not only does he call Lowell his favorite teammate, he points out when the "Big Guys" weren't able to get it done this year, Lowell was there to carry the team.

“He got talked about a lot there at the end, but he didn’t get talked about as much as he should have. When David (Ortiz) was banged up, Manny (Ramirez) was hurt, and J.D. (Drew) was struggling a little bit, Mike Lowell was the guy who picked up the slack and carried us the whole year.”

“This year he was a big influence on a lot of guys,” the second baseman added. “He obviously helped out Jacoby (Ellsbury) when he came up. He made this atmosphere relaxed where a (youngster) could play in that certain situation. He’s part of everything.”

It continues to amaze me the way Lowells teammates speak out about him. At the very least, and I hope it doesn't come to this, at least Lowell knows the fans of Boston want him back and his teammates want him back.

But back to why Pedroia kicks @ss....
He told people yesterday that he's been playing at least since September 10th with a cracked hamate bone in his left hand. This is the same type of injury that sidelined Wily Mo for two months.

“Some days I would wake up and it would be hard to grip a bat,” Pedroia said. “I changed my grip a little bit on the bat and went from there. It was just one of those things you know you have to take care of after the season, but you have to play through. A lot of guys have done that. You definitely don’t want to shut it down and have surgery during the whole thing. We just had to find a way to fight through it.”

YES! Rock on Dirt Dog! I'm not saying it's possible to go out and play (well) every day with an injury but Papi did it this year with his knee and shoulder, and Pedroia did it with his hand. Both guys were major contributors to the World Series win.

Pedroia had surgery on Tuesday to "fix" his hand.....hopefully the pain will be forgotten when he wakes up next week as the American League Rookie of the Year!!!!

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Free Agents, Calling All Free Agents

I've been meaning to track the Red Sox Free Agents to see where they go/who we get, etc. Since Hot Stove news is slow today (Although, the Red Sox HAVE made an offer to MikeVP Lowell - We're just waiting to see what he says. Until then I cannot bring myself to write about it.) I figured I'd better get started:

Curt Schilling - resigned with the Red Sox for one year with a base salary of $8 million. He gets a $2 million incentive based on his weight (weighed at six different times throughout the year), $3 million possible (I believe in increments of $795k, but I could be making that up) if he meets all of his inning incentives and $1 for a single Cy Young vote. This is a total package worth a potential $14 million. Not bad for a 41 year old pitcher, not bad at all.

Our Free Agents who have yet to make a decision

Kevin Cash
Matt Clement
Eric Gagne
Eric Hinske
Bobby Kielty
Mike Lowell
Doug Mirabelli

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Boras Pokes the Hot Stove

The Red Sox are meeting with Boras tonight at the GM meetings. I hope the only thing that happens during that meeting is Theo laughing in Boras' face.

WE WANT MIKE LOWELL

Red Sox have exclusive rights to negotiate with Lowell until Monday. Despite the fact that Lowell officially filed for free agency yesterday, talks with the Sox are still on the table. Lets hope they can come to an agreement. Please.

In other news, there is some talk of going to a six man rotation next year. That's a bunch of bunk as far as I'm concerned but what do I know, I'm just a girl.

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Johnny Damon Sucks

The fact that Damon sucks isn't new to anybody in RSN.

I miss the days when he was a self-described, lovable, idiot. Now he's just another annoying Yankee. According to the Globe:

Damon, a huge part of Boston's '04 World Series team, watched some of the World Series. "They were a great team all year," Damon said. "I think we were the only team that really played them tough."

Give me a freakin' break you cry-baby traitor.

The article also mentions that Damon has been assured he will be the left fielder for the Yankees next year. As much as I wanted to see him end up on some shit-hole team I'm also thinking this news isn't bad. I can still file it under The Demise of the Evil Empire because lets face it - Damon still throws like a girl and now from left instead of center!

The Artwork of 'Darth Damon' was done by my very talented cousin, Erin Biscoe.

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Hot Stove Burning Hotter

To quote the Dave Matthews Band "So much to say, so much to say, so much to say, so much to say"

I literally could have created a separate blog posting for each one of the following items, but it wasn't meant to be today.

Let's start with a little something I like to call The Demise of the Evil Empire

(photo courtesy of Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

Joe Torre, is officially a memeber of the LA Dodgers. I've always liked Torre and am happy to say I like him a WHOLE lot more when he's not wearing pinstripes. He's being paid $14 million for three seasons, which keeps him as the highest paid manager in MLB. It's not only Torre who left the Evil Empire for the Dodgers but also former Yankee coaches Don Mattingly and Larry Bowa.

In other Stankee news, Andy Pettitte declined his $16 million option to pitch for the next season. It would have been better if he said it was because he was taking his arm elsewhere, but at 34 years old he has said he's not even sure if he's returing to baseball at all. He has said before if he pitches again it will be for the Yankees and nobody else, but I also seem to remember a certain Judas Damon saying he'd never go to the Yankees. Basically, take his words for what they're worth right now.

So far we know Bobby Abreau will be returing to the Yanks - it will be interesting to see where everyone ends up. I'm most anticipating the news about Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Johnny Damon. Oh - right - and that AFraud guy too, as long as it's not in Boston!

Now onto the Good Guys!

It's been widely publicized already today, but Curt Schilling and the Red Sox did reach a one year agreement for the old bloody sock to stay with the Sox and finish his career here in Boston. According to Schilling's blog:

The deal looks like this.
$8 million in guaranteed base salary
$2 million in bonuses for 6 seperate weigh ins.
I inserted the weigh in clause in the 2nd round of offers, counter offers. Given the mistakes I made last winter and into Spring Training I needed to show them I recognized that, and understood the importance of it. Being overweight and out of shape are two different things. I also was completely broad sided by the fact that your body doesn’t act/react the same way as you get older. Even after being told that for the first 39 years of my life. Now I can’t get on Dougie anymore, which sucks, and I am sure the clause will add 15-100 more jokes to Tito’s Schilling joke
book.
$3 million in IP incentives based on IP totals.
$1 million for receiving a Cy Young vote, any vote

Not bad old man, not bad at all. I also have to point out how much I love the fact Schill signed off his post with the SIGN MIKE LOWELL!!!!! chant!

The next piece of excellent news is that Kevin Youkilis became a first-time Gold Glove winner today. He definitely deserves it because during the regular season he made no errors in 1,080 chances and had 990 putouts. CONGRATS YOOOOOOUUUUUUKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!

And finally, Papi had his arthroscopic knee surgery today. RSN, lets wish him well for a speedy and successful recovery!

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Gagne Sucks...

This is too funny not to share. I was reading Dirty Watah and Matt had posted some rolling rally pics complete with captions. I literally can't stop laughing over this one:

And so do you, sir.

Bwahhhhhahahahahahahaha. Thank you Matt for some Tuesday morning entertainment.

And for the record....I'm starting my "I know he sucked and I hated him, but I feel bad for him" feelings towards Gagne. We really could have had a good thing, but it wasn't meant to be.
I was looking back through my emails and came across this chat with my brother, I never wanted Gagne!! But it's really interesting to read our other thoughts...

SoxyLady (4:02:56 PM): gagne? wtf?!?!
Soxy’s Brother (4:03:04 PM): whoa, wait - what?
SoxyLady (4:03:42 PM): gangne for gabbard and david murphy
Soxy’s Brother (4:03:35 PM): best. setup man, EVER!
SoxyLady (4:03:51 PM): and we let pinero go earlier
SoxyLady (4:03:53 PM): he WAS the best setup man ever
SoxyLady (4:03:55 PM): he's OLD now. old and washed up.
Soxy’s Brother (4:03:52 PM): dude, did you see him mow down the sox in texas?! he was nasty
Soxy’s Brother (4:04:19 PM): with lester back, gabbard was a bit expendable (although i liked him)
Soxy’s Brother (4:05:05 PM): i think that's going to work out for the sox, i'm just a bit sad it's murphy and not pena
SoxyLady (4:05:25 PM): yeah
SoxyLady (4:05:34 PM): what were you thinking about dye? doesn’t look like it happened
SoxyLady (4:05:49 PM): and did you know jacoby is on the DL?
Soxy’s Brother (4:05:46 PM): it sounded like they were going after dye for the possibility of putting papi on the DL
SoxyLady (4:06:07 PM): ahhhhh
SoxyLady (4:06:10 PM): interesting spin on it
Soxy’s Brother (4:06:09 PM): it really depends on who they were going to send, i wouldn't send anyone other then wily mo and a low level prospect for dye
SoxyLady (4:06:30 PM): right
SoxyLady (4:06:46 PM): wily mo could probably rule somewhere
Soxy’s Brother (4:06:38 PM): yeah, papi is ailing - i read the sox might have wanted to have him do the surgery, be out 4-6 weeks, have dye fill in at DH and hope papi is better for the playoffs
SoxyLady (4:08:08 PM): speaking of trade stuff - hanley ramirez was the untouchable for so long, like jacoby is now
Soxy’s Brother (4:08:12 PM): right, that's true - jacoby and clay bucholtz
Soxy’s Brother (4:08:28 PM): but either jacoby or coco needs to go before the end of 2008 most likely
SoxyLady (4:09:00 PM): why's that? why not drew?
Soxy’s Brother (4:09:10 PM): they paid drew $70 million dollars, there isn't another team out there that will take that contract
Soxy’s Brother (4:09:23 PM): coco is young, cost-controlled and a better defender - much easier to trade
Soxy’s Brother (4:09:32 PM): jd drew signing was painful
SoxyLady (4:09:48 PM): sucks
Soxy’s Brother (4:17:06 PM): the more i think of this, this is a really good deal for the sox - especially in the playoffs, gagne will take pressure of okajima and paps, that might be the best bullpen in baseball
SoxyLady (4:17:21 PM): and okie has had no playoff experience so I guess that could work IF gagne bucks up
SoxyLady (4:37:33 PM): listening now to the press conference
SoxyLady (4:37:38 PM): only hear him talking about gagne, missed the beginning, we didn’t get dye
SoxyLady (4:40:08 PM): theo said we made the strongest offer we could
SoxyLady (4:40:16 PM): and he said he thinks he's staying with his organization
SoxyLady (4:40:29 PM): and if the need arises in august b/c of injury "or something" he thinks we can handle it
Soxy’s Brother (4:41:08 PM): good for him, don't overpay for a rental player
SoxyLady (4:41:48 PM): i think i'm just most worried b/c of papi
SoxyLady (4:41:51 PM): he's so not hijmself
Soxy’s Brother (4:41:58 PM): nope, maybe they'll try and play wily mo at DH while papi rests - who knows
SoxyLady (4:42:36 PM): they are worried about okie
SoxyLady (4:42:51 PM): he's about to surpass the highest amount of innings he's ever pitched in one season in japan
SoxyLady (4:42:57 PM): and they still want him to pitch another 2-3 months
SoxyLady (4:43:01 PM): wily mo is starting tonight
SoxyLady (4:43:07 PM): batting 9th
SoxyLady (4:56:46 PM): bendan donnely will undergo tommy johns surgery on friday
Soxy’s Brother (4:56:34 PM): ah, there you go
SoxyLady (4:57:25 PM): he did know and told theo but kept it quiet so texas wouldn't raise price. he's out this season and all of next season.
Soxy’s Brother (4:57:20 PM): oh wow
Soxy’s Brother (4:57:42 PM): that makes him one of the biggest contributors to the red sox this year, even without pitching
SoxyLady (4:58:20 PM): and his contract expires this season
SoxyLady (4:58:26 PM): but theo wants him to rehab with the soxs
Soxy’s Brother (4:59:32 PM): interesting stuff going on
SoxyLady (4:59:56 PM): should be a good ride

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Failure....D'oh

Only a few days into NaBloPoMo I failed.

Not good, I know.

However, Soxy Fiance and I took a spontaneous trip to the edge of the US, literally. We went to Calais, Maine to visit some good friends.

I was looking forward to the month-long challenge of NoBloPoMo, but sometimes life has to take priority.

As for what I missed, there was more good off-season news

• Red Sox picked up 2008 contract options for Tim Wakefield and Julian Tavarez. This must mean Timmy's shoulder and back problems aren't too serious. Let's hope the off-season rest brings him back to where he needs to be. He is the most selfless player on the Red Sox team and I'm happy he'll be back. Tavarez, he's crazy. He has great games and terrible games. He brings life to the clubhouse. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do next season.
  
• Mike Lowell has still not filed for free agency

And the Red Sox Press Tour continued

• Papi was on Conan O'Brien bedazzled jacket and all
  
• Manny Ramirez was on Jay Leno asking if he was related to Youk because of his large chin

So Soxy Fans, sorry for the post delays but I'm back!

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John Farrell Staying with the Sox - First Good Off-Season News

The off-season news posts have officially started and thankfully it begins on a positive note!

Farrell turns down shot at Pirates' job
By Gordon Edes, Globe Staff

Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell released a statement through the Sox, saying he planned to stay with the club rather than pursue a chance to manage the Pittsburgh Pirates. His statement said:

“While I do have aspirations to manage in the major leagues in the future, my commitment to John, Tom, Larry, Theo, Tito and the Red Sox, needs to be greater than one year for their faith in hiring me as their pitching coach. Therefore I have declined the opportunity to interview for the position of Pittsburgh Pirates manager. I look forward to contributing to and competing for another World Series title here in Boston."

Not only that, but Schilling has chimed in on the report (of course he has), saying:

John Farrell is a HUGE part of the equation, not just for me either. He’s as good as anyone I’ve ever worked with and probably the most over qualified pitching coach in the world. This guy is a GM already. I think him doing what he’s doing is a testament to his love for the game more than anything.

This guy gets it on so many levels, personal and professional. While I would claim we are very close friends, he was always my coach first, which is something I desperately need at this point in my career. He’s as upfront and honest as you could ever hope someone in his position would be.

Add to that he’s as genuine and nice as anyone I’ve ever met. One of my real pleasures in life is the ability to rag him about the fact that he wears a 10 5/8 hat, or something close to it.

Good pitching coach, better person.

This leads me to believe that Farrell is still grooming Tek to become pitching coach when his days of playing are over. I don't have any inside knowledge about this, it's just a hunch based on the Tek-love-fest displayed by Farrell during his WS interviews with Fox.

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2007 Boston Red Sox Rolling Rally Videos

Here they are! My Soxy Fiance spent A LOT of time trying to convert these videos so all of you could see them. They came out a little grainy - and we may try and fix them at a later date, but you get the idea.

Many people have asked me - what was the difference between the 2007 Rally and the 2004 Rally. It's really hard to describe, but I'll try.

• The entire atmosphere was different - while both were Electric! - the electricity was a different feeling each time.
  
• Of course, the weather in 2004 was cold and rainy in comparison to the sunny skies this year
• In 2004 there were fans of ALL ages, and many many many "older" fans. This year, there was an overload of college and younger kids (especially girls with "I love Ellsbury signs!)
• For the most part the "ducks" drove slower this year. Maybe they learned in 2004 they were going too quickly, maybe since they didn't go in the Charles this year they wanted fans to get a better opportunity to see the players, but in any event...most of the player ducks went slower. The exception I noticed was Tito's duck which seemed to fly by.
  
• People have asked if the players were less enthusiastic and to that I say "No!"
  
• The one thing I did notice is many more players were taping the crowd than in 2004. I think some of the veterans suggested buying a camcorder.
• The younger players, and those (like Mike Lowell and Daisuke) who weren't here in 2004 were simply glowing
• The veterans...they were having a blast. Manny and Papi were playing with the crowd the whole time. Listen for Manny saying he needed some Crown Royal and that everyone was invited back to his house for a party! He also said we were the best fans and they loved us and Boston was the place to be.
  
• Jonathan.Bleeping.Papelbon - enough said
• It was great there was the opportunity for player interaction this year. Besides Manny and Papi talking, Pedrioa joined the crowd with chants of "YOUK!" and of course there was the Dropkick Murphy's on the flatbed with Papelbon-bon and Timlin dancing.
  

Yeah - it was TOTALLY worth it to be there! Without further ado - here are my videos!

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Convert From Being a Yankees Fan to a Red Sox Fan

Thank you for your interest in becoming a member of the Boston Red Sox Fan Club. Due to an unprecedented volume of requests, we are currently processing fan conversion registrations for New York Yankee fans only. Conversion requests from other teams will be accepted once all Yankee requests are processed. We expect this to take a number of weeks based upon the current backlog of requests.

Please take a few moments to fill out the conversion form below to help us get to know you better and prescribe any required counseling to recover from
your previous fan experience.

Name: _______________________________
Address:______________________________
Who's Your Daddy: ____________________


1. Please select your favorite recent Yankee new player acquisition:
[ } Roger Clemens $20 million, six wins, one groin pull
[ ] Alex Rodriquez $92 million, no title, Ha!
[ ] Derek Jeter $123 million since last won world series
[ ] Jason Giambi $91 million, no title, lots of roid sweat
[ ] Carl Pavano $27 million, five wins

2. . Which of the following would you most like to see as the most played
YES Network "Great Moments in Yankee History" film clip in 2008:
[ ] Rivera's "shocking" blown save in Game 4, 2004
[ ] Rivera's "shocking" blown save in Game 5, 2004
[ ] The awesome wild card clincher celebration
[ ] Wang getting hammered in Game 1
[ ] Wang getting hammered in Game 2
[ ] Jeter's first GIDP
[ ] Jeter's second GIDP
[ ] Jeter's third GIDP

3.. Please indicate the last book you read:
[ ] Someday, in my lifetime, the Yankees will get to the LCS
[ ] Suicide Hotline - It's not just for Cubs' fans anymore
[ ] The Heimlich Maneuver -- What to do when choking

4. Which recent Yankees personnel move did you enjoy most:
[ ] Not winning the posting for Matsuzaka
[ ] Winning the posting for Kei Igawa

5. Which following designation best describes Derek Jeter's performance in this year's ALDS:
[ ] Captain Intangibles
[ ] Captain GIDP
[ ] Captain & Tenille

6. Please choose your favorite movie:
[ ] Anger Management
[ ] Hunt for Red October
[ ] Damned Yankees
[ ] Still We Believe

7. Finish this sentence: "Alex Rodriquez is
a. overrated
b. overpaid
c. overdue
d. overly prissy
e. over

8. . Select the most vociferous, stupid, and annoying Yankee fan:
[ ] Washed up "comic" hack and Yanks personal ballwasher Billy Crystal
[ ] Front-running celebrity phony Jack Nicholson
[ ] Tim McCarver

9 . Are you ready to admit that :
a. Ted Williams was better than Joe DiMaggio?
b. Carlton Fisk was better than Thurman Munson?
c. Even Manny Ramirez is faster than Bernie Williams?
d. Reggie Jackson was a better outfielder than Matsui?
e. Derek Jeter has less range than a kumquat
f. No self-respecting parasite would invade Jason Giambi?

10. Please indicate your favorite moments in Yankee history: (Check all
that apply):
[ ] Alex Rodriquez is traded to the Yankees
[ ] Don Mattingly never wins a World Series
[ ] The Yankees let Clemens get away
[ ] The Yankees get Clemens back
[ ] Giambi's steroid abuse causes his body to collapse like a screen
door in a hurricane.
[ ] The bugs eat Joba

11 . Have you experienced any of the following after the embarrassing four game collapse? (Check all that apply)
[ ] Headache
[ ] Uncontrolled Anger
[ ] Heartache
[ ] Holes punched in doors or walls
[ ] Nausea
[ ] Smashed TV screens
[ ] Depression and Broken Dreams
[ ] Avoided Red Sox fans for days or weeks

Once you have completed this form, please forward it to Fenway Park. Then burn all your remaining Yankee clothing, memorabilia, and associated reminders. After reviewing your request, the Red Sox Fan Club will contact you with notification of acceptance or rejection.

I hereby acknowledge that the real "curse" is being a Yankee Fan.

I hereby renounce the New York Yankees for all eternity on this the ______
day of ________________, 200__

join the forums at www.NewEnglandSportsCountry.com

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