First off, check out this YouTube clip of Big Papi launching his 54 long balls up and out of the park this past season. Maybe next year, he gets to 60?

Big Papi - 54 Home Run Season

Well, it’s been an interesting off-season thus far for Sox fans. By the end of this week, Manny Ramirez might be playing elsewhere next season while free agent J.D. Drew might be wearing a Boston uniform. Also rumor has it that Julio Lugo may finally be positioned at short for the home team at Fenway Park next season, as the front office has been high on him since… well, forever, it seems. Of course, the biggest news has been that the Sox plopped down $51 million just for the rights to talk with Japanese star right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka and there is a lot of excitement about the possibility of this youngster being the next Pedro Martinez. Soon enough, the team that won it all in 2004 might be a distant memory, especially with a guy like the original dirt dog, Trot Nixon, leaving town for sure if Drew is brought on board.

What off-season?

Categories: Red Sox
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Yes, again we’ve been MIA in terms of posting in recent weeks but not for any reason other than we didn’t really have a heck of a lot to report over that time. It seems that life has fallen into a routine for us. It’s not necessarily a bad thing but it seems ridiculous to just post: “Today, for dinner, we had pork chops and apple sauce.”

Well, news that is fit to print is that Lea has finally started taking a few steps in the past couple of days. In fact, her first steps came on Halloween, which is odd in that Jakob started walking to almost the exact day after he was born. By the end of this weekend, we wouldn’t be surprised if she’s running from room to room, chasing the cats or her brother. She is doing a lot of climbing, too: up onto the dining room chairs, the dining room table, the bathroom sink, and a few other places. Speaking of Halloween, in case you’re curious, we dressed the kids as M&Ms. Both of them love trick-or-treating; in fact, Jakob practiced all day Tuesday saying “trick or treat.”

All that remains is some of the latest news from the Red Sox, who have picked up Tim Wakefield’s option for 2007 and signed Mike Timlin to another one-year contract. Both of these guys will 40-plus this coming season but they are still considered key contributors, Wakey in the rotation and Timlin in the ‘pen. Looking from the outside in are, among others, free agents Trot Nixon, Gabe Kapler, Mark Loretta, and Alex Gonzalez. Personally, we’d like to see all of them return, especially Trot, who is currently the longest-tenured player in the Red Sox organization (since 1993 - signed by Lou Gorman of all people) and one of the original “dirt dogs,” but the business of baseball doesn’t always consider those factors.

At least recent negotiations between the players and owners resulted in a labor deal that will keep peace in Major League Baseball for the next five years. Congratulations are also in order for the St. Louis Cardinals, who won the World Series in five games over Detroit last week, albeit the fact that they had fewer wins than Boston did this past season (86 wins for the Sox versus 83 for the Red Birds). In fact, St. Louis has the distinction of having the fewest regular season wins ever posted by an eventual World Series winner for that same season. Red Sox and Yankee fans take little comfort in that.

Categories: Family, Lea, Red Sox
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