Getting Excited For Baseball

Seeing these 2010 baseball commercials have surely fired me up for the baseball season.

In this ESPN Sunday Night Baseball clip, Buchholz and actor Adam Scott sing along to Sweet Caroline and try and get Yankees outfielder, Nick Swisher involved too. He wants nothing to do with it. So what does Buchholz do? He continues to sing along by himself. And he can actually carry a tune (not sure why this surprises me, but it does!) I've never been a huge fan of Buchholz, but this makes me like the guy a little.

Then there are the NESN spots that my friend Susan Mahoney told me about. The first one kind of cracks me up. Orsillo is trying to explain how to navigate around Boston to John Lackey. It has often made me comment out-loud that 95/128 are the same road (in some spots) and that 95S turns into 93N....it's just confusing. Even to those of us who grew up in MA.



This last video, however, has got to be my favorite. A (real) Yankees fan walks into a barber shop talking smack...until he sees the likes of Papi, Tek, Wake and Paps. It's great.



What about you? Which is your favorite? What is getting you fired up for the baseball season?

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Cape Cod League Alumni Player of the Game - Game 4 ALDS

I know I'm a little late on posting this, but hey, it's up before tonight's start of the AlCS!!!!

I'm still recovering from the excitement of the game.

This is another instance where I thought the Cape League Alumni Player of the Game was going to be easy to choose. Varitek. But then I started reading around the bloggernauts and everyone seems to be cheering for Kotsay. So once again, I leave it up to you.

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

Edit: My dad just reminded me of how strong Kotsay's game really was. In the 9th inning he should have had the game winning RBI, but Teixeira made an amazing play. In my mind, the POG still goes to Tek, but I had to add this info in case it changes anyone else's mind.

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I Love You, Man

Last night I was reading Papi's Book (yes, I'm still plugging my way through it. It's not exactly Best Seller List material, but an entertaining read nonetheless.) Anyway, I'm read the part about the 2003 ALCS series and the beginning of 2004 and it struck me just how much I loved every guy on the team. Every one, even greasy Mark Bellhorn.

So of course my mind starts wandering to our 2007 Red Sox and I realize I don't feel the same love for all of our players and got a little sad. It's obvious who some of those players are (ahem Lugo and Drew).

Don't get me wrong, my heart has grown 10 sizes too big thanks to the likes of Mike Lowell, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia (among others), but it's not a huge team lovefest like it has been in the past.

Then this morning I come across this article where Varitek asks RSN to please not Boo Drew - it kind of changed something inside of me. I'll quote a couple of paragraphs below...but let me know what you think. Should we follow the advice of O' Capatin my Captain Tek? Probably....

"I wish the fans understood how much power they have," said Varitek. "They can help J.D. Drew. They really can."
The irony, said Varitek, is that by booing Drew, who has been mired in a season-long slump, the Red Sox chances of winning drops.....

....."But you look at his swing. It's a great swing," said Varitek. "And he's a good outfielder. He has good speed. He's a good player. Is he having the year a lot of people hoped? No. But he can still help us. In fact, I really believe we are going to need him."

That's where the fans come in, said Varitek, sitting in an office at Jaffarian's.

"Why not give him a standing ovation when he comes to plate," said Varitek. "They did it for Julio Lugo and it helped. It really did. The energy the fans give you can carry a team. Trust me, I know. I can feel it. But the fans can also make you want to get under a rock."

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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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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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I'm baaaccckkkk

Miss me?

I've been on a somewhat unplanned, extended vacation - but I'm here now. Ready to talk Sox. I've been reading up on the news and on my friends blogs so I don't feel too out of the loop. There are a few things I need to mention as I get back into the blogesphere.

Tek (photo courtesy of www.jason-varitek.com)
Finally his no-hit streak is over! I know it's only Spring Training, but it was a little disconcerting that he was 0-17. He came out of it with a "bang" - a solo homer in the 5th against Erik Bedard and the Orioles.

I have always stated that Tek's value matters more behind the plate than they do at the plate. That isn't to say that going 0-17 is ok. I really feel the ball club suffered when he was out with his injury. I'm also confident that he can make a "comeback" this year....regardless of what the recent numbers are saying. However, I'm starting to hear rumblings that Tek isn't really calling the games like I thought he was. Is it true that Tito and the front office are making most of the calls? Anyone have information on this matter. I'm definitely interested in hearing more.

Papelbon
Our Golden Boy Closer is back. I actually got the news from Schillings blog (more on that in a minute) and I had to say there was a big sigh of relief. Realistically though, is this the best thing? I mean they are saying his shoulder is fine. How much of that do we believe? Did this move come out of desperation? Lets face it there weren't many options and we're getting might close to opening day. This news does, however, change my opinion a little bit on wanting to get Roger back. I think if Tavarez becomes our 5th starter he'll do an OK job, but our pitching rotation has definitely been weakened. I think this is the only situation where I'll be happy if Roger comes back to the Sox, to put us back as the strongest pitching team out there (and if we aren't the strongest with this staff, and there are no injuries, does the blame fall on Tek? Or whoever is making the pitch calls?!?!)

38 Pitches
What do ya'll think of Curt's blog? I, for one, have some mixed reactions to it. On the one hand, I think it's really freaking cool that he's taking the time to do this. I work in the Marketing Industry and Social Media is the "wave of the future" - Curt is doing a great job getting his name and his company out there. He's gathering interest from current baseball fans and maybe making some new fans out of video-gamers.

I like the inside thoughts, but he's never going to go "there" which is where I want him to go. I'm most interested in learning what life is like in the clubhouse and he's clearly stated he won't talk about that at all. I see his point, but I still wish he would dish a little.

On the other hand, I really don't give a cr@p about the gaming industry and tend to skip over the parts of his posts where he talks about it. When he's talking about baseball he holds my interest at first, but then to be honest my eyes start to gloss over. He's giving really in-depth information, which is great...but man he talks a lot. That shouldn't be a surprise, right?

I'm looking forward to see how much publicity he generates for charities through the blog. I love how he gave a plug to the little boy with Ewing’s Sarcoma who is the Cardinals fan (http://www.peterdespain.com/blog/index.php) - he's even having a shoe designed with the phrase "For Pete's Sake" to support him. That's pretty cool.

There is a blog post on there that Schilling called and talked to Pete. It's really cute.
http://peterdespain.com/blog/?p=14

Wow! Thanks to our friends, the Close’s, Pete was introduced to Curt Schilling. Mr. Schilling made several calls during the week on his way to spring training to check on Pete. In the picture he’s giving Pete a pep talk on his last day of chemo therapy. He wants Pete to call him with an update after every chemo session. Being a pitcher, Pete has always been a Curt Schilling fan. He admires his mental and physical toughness…and the way he plays the game. Pete admitted to being a little nervous on the call…all we heard was “awesome…wow…okay…really” in response to Mr. Schilling’s offer to meet him for a game. Looks like Pete may be wearing the Red and Blue of the Red Sox!

Schilling even left him a comment

1. Curt Schilling Says:
   March 4th, 2007 at 5:57 pm

   PETE! My man! Curt Schilling here! I haven’t heard from you in a few weeks and wanted to stop by and say hello. The Close family sent me the link to your site, pretty awesome! You have my number buddy, gimme a ring when you get some free time!
   God Bless
   Curt

See stuff like this makes his blog worth it and a positive thing in my book. I'll just continue to "gloss over" when needed.

OK, that's it for now. Happy to be back, hope to hear from you guys!

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Jason Varitek :: An Unofficial Fan Site

It's a slow day for Red Sox news.....

With the countdown to Pitchers & Catchers reporting down to only two weeks, I thought it was appropriate to talk about my hometown fav, Tek.

(Photo Taken by me 5-5-2006)

While most of us have referred to Trot Nixon as the original Dirt Dog, for his grungy uniform and hard-playing attitude, but it was actually Jason Varitek who coined the Term. The first edition of the 2004 Red Sox Magazine featured an article written by Gary Brown (excerpt below):

In the western Massachusetts town of Agawam, there’s a sandlot baseball team with an unlikely name: The Sacred Heart Dirt Dogs.

The team adopted its nickname after being inspired by a story in which Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek was quoted as saying, “We’re just a bunch of dirt dogs, working hard and finding ways to win ball games.” No question about it, the “dirt dog” image speaks to the true-grit style of this Red Sox ball club. Varitek could be the poster boy for that image. So could right fielder Trot Nixon, truly a blue-color worker on the baseball field. They certainly stand as ideal role models for the kids in Agawam, and everywhere else.

It has been said of both that they play baseball with a “football mentality”. That’s a tribute to their toughness and their willingness to go all-out all the time. They are tireless workers, both in pre-game preparation, and on the field.

When you’re a dirt dog, you eschew possible bodily harm to get the job done. Think about Varitek, an immovable object when he blocks the plate against fast-moving baserunners determined to knock the ball out of his grasp. Think about Nixon, diving to make plays, even though those dives sometimes hurtle him close to Fenway’s low railing along the right-field line.

The most dangerous dive in recent years was performed by Varitek, when his head-first slide for a catch of a foul ball damaged his right elbow and put him out for the season in June of 2001. Would he go for that kind of play again?

“Absolutely”, he said.

I don't remember exactly when I decided Tek was my "favorite" Sox player, but I know I chose him because of his work ethic (reminiscent of Cal Ripken), his intensity and I'm not going to lie...some of his "physical" attributes!

On Christmas Eve 2004 RSN received presents a little early when the Red Sox held a press conference naming Jason Varitek as the Red Sox Captain.

Anyway, I'm always excited when I find news articles related to, or interviews done by Tek. You can my joy in finding the Jason Varitek Unofficial Fan site!


The site is maintained very well and offers articles, photos, stats, a biography and a lot more! I just emailed Erin, the webmaster, some of my personal pictures of Tek. I hope to see them up there soon!

I urge all of you to take a look at the site and contribute any Tek info/pics you may have!!
Also, let me know if there are other great fan sites out there, maybe I'll profile it in an upcoming post.

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