I'm With The Spaceman

Bill "Spaceman" Lee holds court at the Red Sox Hall of Fame Induction Gala. (Brita Meng Outzen/MLB.com)

Boston.RedSox.mlb.com: 'Spaceman' lands in Sox Hall of Fame
Lee offers plenty of opinions during induction Friday night

The July 31 trade that sent Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers? That is a highly sore subject for Lee.

Perhaps it takes a free spirit like Lee to completely understand a free spirit like Ramirez.

"Manny was well loved, and then he'd have his little fits, and then we'd patch things up and we'd win a world championship," said Lee. "This year, I think Boston just kind of got fed up with winning. That's too bad."

The way Lee sees it, the Red Sox would have repeated as World Series champions if they had ignored all of Ramirez's off-field antics and just kept him around.

"We could have been world champions again," roared Lee. "And then he wouldn't have hit those 6-irons into the wind against the Cubs; he would have hit them against Tampa Bay. And we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. A prophet in his own time is not well received in this town. I was, for nine years and 142 days. And I told everybody on [sports radio station WEEI] and everything that they would not win it without Manny Ramirez. They told me to shut up. I told them, 'You guys don't like to win, do you?'

"He's the greatest hitter I ever saw. I loved the guy. He's a prima donna, and he pushed down the traveling secretary. Well, you pick the traveling secretary up, and you dust him off, and you apologize and you go back to work. He's the greatest I ever saw. I like Jason Bay. I'm not saying anything disparaging against Canadians, because I've married two of them."

Even Ramirez taking games off with injuries that didn't seem to be more than routine nags was no offense to Lee.

"He always took August off," said Lee. "In France, they give you a month vacation and give you two hours for lunch."

Even more entertaining -- or outlandish -- was Lee's take on what the Red Sox should do this offseason.

"Sign Manny Ramirez," Lee said. "We just had that conversation. He's already saved L.A. Sure, they should patch it up with Manny. You're going to have to see his number on the wall sooner or later here, aren't you? He's going to be standing right where I'm standing. Mark my words. Because if he doesn't go in the Red Sox Hall of Fame, [it's not right]."

Sleep Is For Fans Whose Teams Aren't In the Playoffs Any More

Red Sox players celebrated after J.D. Drew's walkoff hit in the bottom of the ninth inning kept their season alive.
(Getty Images Photo / Elsa)


Boston Globe: Game 5 ALCS Photo Gallery

Call the Wahhhmbulance for the Angels

Nominee for Best Postseason W(h)ine (California vintage)


Joy of Sox: Schadenfreude 64 (A Continuing Series)
Special Los Angeles Angels Edition!


Read the whole post at Joy of Sox, it's hilarious.

The Angels feel they should have won the series. That would have required better fielding, pitching and hitting. And less whining.

There's no crying in baseball.

See you next year, weenies.

Video Lasts Forever

Comcast New England: Jonathan Papelbon: The High School Years

Click on the link to see three videos of Jonathan Papelbon, the intimidating closer of the Red Sox, dancing in a high school talent show. (He's actually quite good!) The videos were supplied by his mother to the Red Sox, so the first video is of the Red Sox team showing them in the lockerroom before last night's game. Hilarious.

Tearjerker

Jackson, Mason and Weston Taylor

Boston Globe: A promise kept
Utah children live their father's dream of seeing Red Sox play at Fenway

Photo Gallery: A promise lives

Ellsbury Is a Human Highlght Film

yahoo: Boston Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury makes a diving catch on Chicago White Sox's Orlando Cabrera during the first inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008.
(AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

Robs Aubrey Huff of a home run.

I can't put mlb.com videos directly onto my blog, so once you get to MLB.com, click the "Jacoby Ellsbury" tag next to the video for more great catches.

I'm so glad we didn't trade him in the offseason.

Our Little MVP

Boston Red Sox's Dustin Pedroia watches his two-run single during the sixth inning of Boston's 7-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles in a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, Monday, Sept. 1, 2008. Pedroia's single was his 184th hit of the season, a record for Red Sox second baseman, breaking Del Pratt's mark from 1922.
(AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

He's only the best hitter in baseball: Number one in the AL in batting average, hits, runs scored, and multihit games, third in doubles and hardest to strike out, fifth in total bases. One of the smallest guys in the league, too, with tiny hands. Hats off to Pedroia the Destroia.

Lynn Item: Red Sox second baseman Pedroia is simply first-rate

BOSTON -- It seems every time Dustin Pedroia is in the vicinity of the baseball, the chants begin: 'M-V-P, M-V-P.'

And why not? His name litters each game's box score as much as it does the list of American League offensive leaders: batting average, number one at .326 entering last night's game against the Orioles; hits (first, 183); multihit games (first, 53); runs scored (first, 106); doubles (third, 42); total bases (fifth, 274); hardest to strike out (third-best, every 13.1 plate appearances).

A Final Paean to Manny

A final ode to Manny from Charlie Pierce.

Charles Pierce, Boston Globe: Manny Ramirez's Long Goodbye
Exit stage left, dude. It's been fun.

Red Sox Notes

flickr: citadelgrad's photostream
July 2008 Red Sox at Angels
hat tip to Red Sox Monster

Wouldn't I like to be wearing this "My Other Shirt Is Buried Under Yankee Stadium" shirt to Yankee Stadium on August 28th when Coach Mom & I go to see the last Yankees-Red Sox game at Yankee Stadium? Tee hee. I'm planning to wear my Ellsbury t.

Did you see Peter Gammons piece on Dustin Pedroia before the Sunday night game of the week on ESPN? He started it out by saying "Dustin Pedroia looks like a little stuffed toy at FAO Schwartz". It's linked here on Centerfield; also check out Centerfield's collection of baby/youth pictures of the Red Sox.

Jonathan Papelbon was all out of shape over being heckled in the All-Star parade in New York City, but maybe, maybe, showing off his World Series ring to the crowd wasn't the best decision.

MBM in Seattle: Manny gets lectured by a traffic cop for crossing the street the cop was blocking. The cop apparently had no idea who he was.

MBM, Gatorade Edition

Extra Bases blog, Boston Globe

Manny Ramirez had another Monster moment Sunday afternoon, climbing into the wall to sip on a sports drink during a pitching change in the seventh inning. When he was done, Ramirez tipped his cap to the Fenway faithful.

Red Sox Rap

It's kind of .... white.

And I say that from a melatonin melanin-challenged position.

But funny.

Jacoby Rules

yahoo photos: Jacoby Ellsbury (L) of Boston Red Sox slides safely into home plate for a run ahead of the throw to Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer in the first inning of their MLB baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts July 8, 2008.
REUTERS/Brian Snyder (UNITED STATES)

That's what I named my fantasy baseball team after Jacoby Ellsbury hit .400 in the World Series last year, after starting the 2007 season in Double A. While he may not win the AL Rookie of the Year award (Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Secular Rays is also having a fantastic season, and has posted some pretty impressive numbers) Ellsbury has been pivotal to the Red Sox this season. Check out Art Martone's take at ProjoSoxBlog; he calls Jacoby "The Catalyst" (go to his original post for links to sources):

THE CATALYST: When he hits .339 -- with a .411 on-base percentage and a .489 slugging percentage -- they win. When he hits .194 -- with corresponding numbers of .257 and .248 -- they lose. And when he doesn't play, their winning percentage is .333.

While it's a truism that virtually all players hit better in wins than in losses -- that's one of the reasons teams lose individual games, because the players don't hit in them -- the numbers for Jacoby Ellsbury are particularly striking. (baseball-reference.com) (Compare them, for instance, to Dustin Pedroia's, or Manny Ramirez' or J.D. Drew's.) Steven Krasner takes a closer look at Ellsbury's importance to the Sox' offense and talks to various people about how he jump-starts the attack. And there's plenty of evidence that his down periods coincide with the team's . . . such as the recently concluded 3-7 road trip, when he hit just .225 with a .279 on-base percentage. (Baseball Musings' Day By Day Database)

All of it indicates just how important Ellsbury has become to the Sox in the short time he's been with them. And it's one of the reasons why the controversy we all anticipated if Coco Crisp wasn't traded hasn't developed. While it's true that various injuries have given the two of them adequate playing time, more than could have been anticipated had everyone stayed healthy, no one can reasonable argue that Crisp, he of the .259/.309/.410, OPS-plus 87 line, deserves to be in lineup over Ellsbury.

LOST

Who was Manny talking to during the pitching change on Wednesday?

Caption suggestions here.

I just like the fact that the photo frames him within the word "LOST", and looking happy as a clam. MBM.

Buy Me Some Peanuts and Crackerjack

Fans in the Hit It Here Cafe at Safeco Field in Seattle, where the menu includes Caesar salad, barbecued rack of ribs and lavender meringue.
Photo: Andrew Testa for The New York Times


NYTimes: Buy Me Some Sushi and Baby Back Ribs

NYTimes: Finding the Hits, Avoiding the Errors
A culinary scorecard for all 30 major league baseball stadiums. (interactive map)

Personally, I prefer not to eat at Fenway Park. Even thought they've upgraded the food quite a bit, the vendor is Aramark and they're terrible. They failed health inspections on opening day this year and didn't clean up their act for 19 games. The violations included "sausages thawing in stagnant water, employees handling raw burgers without changing their gloves, and rodent droppings underneath service counters." I recommend going to the game with a full stomach.

The bratzel at St. Louis's Busch Stadium looks good.

The Cathedral of Baseball

Baby baptized at Fenway Park:



Hat tip to Red Sox Monster

A-Rod: Stay Out of Our House

Alexa Rodriguez was in the upper deck behind home plate, where the tour was being seated. The hawk swooped down as the student was getting ready to leave.
(John Tlumacki/Globe Staff)

A middle school teenage girl on a tour of Fenway Park -- whose nickname is A-Rod -- was attacked by a red-tail hawk in the stands behind home plate. The hawk had a nest in front of the press box overhead, with one egg in it. The hawk scratched the girl's head, and she was taken to the hospital, treated and released. After the attack the hawk's nest was removed:

This spring the raptor used a brown-knit cap and twigs from trees on Yawkee Way to build a nest on a green overhang near the press booth above home plate. She laid a brown-speckled egg last week, but it rolled off the nest, wasn't properly incubated, and was no longer viable, French said.

Wildlife officials removed the egg and the nest yesterday after the hawk lashed out at Alexa.

Obviously the hawk struck out because the girl's name was A-Rod. For all we know, she was in the park on July 24, 2004, during the famous fight where Varitek took A-Rod by the throat.

The hawk wasn't just protecting her nest. She was protecting our house.

The Boston Globe article used above contains a hilarious typo. "Yawkee Way" is actually "Yawkey Way". The writer must have been thinking about the Yankees, not the Yawkeys. Just like the hawk; a little confused, but heart in the right place.

Boston Globe: Teen finds fowl territory at Fenway

Boston Globe Photo Gallery: Hawk attack at Fenway Park

Boston Globe: An omen? Hawk attacks girl with a familiar-sounding name at Fenway

July 24, 2004