Archive for the 'Red Sox' category
Stop Me If You’ve Heard This Before…
26 February 2007 @ 9:00 pm
Our apologies to those of you who expect us to frequent the pages of this blog more often. Jeff’s been trying to keep up with everything at FenwayFanatics.com, with spring training finally in full swing and the first Grapefruit League action taking place Wednesday night against Minnesota. Curt Schilling will get the start that night and Daisuke Matsuzaka will take the hill on Friday night against Boston College, though none of the starters for the first few weeks are expected to pitch more than a couple of innings as the club takes a closer look at the minor leaguers and the possible future in Boston.
Of course, the family has been the real center of attention, with Jakob, who will be four in April, going to school now five days a week and Lea, just shy of 18 months, getting smarter by the second (yesterday, she pointed at the sky and clearly spoke the word: “airplane!”). Mom and Dad just try to take it all in and remember that the kids will only be young once. One note of interest lately is that Jakob is finally getting toilet-trained; he’s been able to use the potty for a long time but it’s only recently that he’s finally decided that he’s a big boy now. Of course, as parents usually do, we try to make a big deal out of it every time that he successfully keeps his pants clean and uses the toilet; we even have a potty song that seems to help enforce the idea since he loves to sing songs all day.
Weekends have been all about the family, too, as we’ve decided to save a few bucks on work around the house in favor of getting out of the house more when Dad’s home for the weekend. The weather has been pretty cold as of late, so we might make a trip to the local playspace or walk around the mall. We had a nice snowfall a couple of weeks ago and have had a few additional snow storms since then so, as the weather warmed late last week and into the weekend, we had some fun in the backyard making a snowman and pulling the kids around on their sleds. Lea’s still not sure that she is a fan of the white stuff yet, but Jakob would play all day out there if Mom and Dad had that kind of energy to keep up with him!
That’s about all from here; the truth is, the weather isn’t going to get much warmer for another month, so we’re doing everything that we can to avoid cabin fever. It won’t be long now, though, before the tulips and the daffodils make their annual appearance, the lawn mower comes out of the shed, and Red Sox baseball returns to the television every night for six months.
Thus Spake Zarathustra
20 January 2007 @ 8:01 pm
For those of you that are unaware of the meaning of this post’s title, go rent 2001: A Space Odyssey today…
Like the movie, the news has been sparse in these parts lately but that doesn’t mean that we have not been busy. Jakob started at a new pre-kindergarten school this past week and he really enjoys being with all new friends. Lea is actively running around the house, literally, and has started to parrot everything that we say. Plus, with the cold weather finally here, we’ve managed to tackle some projects around the house that we’ve been meaning to do, including some of the finish work in the basement. We were fortunate not to get hit with the ice storm that parts north of us received that caused considerable damange.
In Red Sox news, the biggest story today is that one of Boston’s original Dirt Dogs, Trot Nixon, signed a free agent deal with Cleveland yesterday. Though it wasn’t much of a surprise, with the Red Sox failing to offer him arbitration at the deadline in December, Nixon had been with Boston since signing out of high school in 1993 and was the longest-active member of the club (Tim Wakefield now holds that distinction). Trot, we thank you for your years of service and wish you nothing but the best with the Indians.
Oh, and the Patriots are just one win away from the Super Bowl, if they can get by old friend Adam Vinateri and old foe Peyton Manning tomorrow night in Indianapolis. Stay tuned!
‘Tis The Season
21 December 2006 @ 1:00 pm
Happy Winter Solstice, everyone! Of course, no one here truly believes that winter is here, judging by the fact that we have had only one “snow day,” and even that was a laugh because we barely had enough to define as a dusting. Jeff hasn’t even bothered to put the usual sand bags in the bed of the pickup since the roads are bone dry and traction is a non-issue these days. However, we know from past experience that the weather around here can change pretty suddenly, so it might be a whole ‘nother story in a week or two.
Yesterday, we had a nice visit from Jeff’s brother and his family here at our home in Massachusetts and, with his parents also in attendance, we enjoyed a nice, early Christmas dinner of lasagna, salad, and Texas toast! The cousins really enjoyed each other’s company and had a great time opening presents later in the evening that Santa brought us the other day (you know, to get a head start on his deliveries). Next week, we plan to make a trip out to New York for a visit with Tiffany’s family for a few days since Jeff will have the week off; otherwise, we plan to keep things low-key while we enjoy the waning moments of 2006!
Back on the Red Sox front, Boston finally got its man last week - Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Japanese pitching phenom whom Red Sox Nation has already dubbed “Dice-K” and whom expect to continue in the tradition of Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez before him. Six years, $52 million with options that might bring the final value of the contract up to $60 million. Boston also picked up a few other players in recent weeks - shortstop Julio Lugo, reliever Brendan Donnelly, and outfielder J.D. Drew, though Drew’s contract has still not been finalized to this point. Two years after bringing a championship to Boston, the look of the Red Sox is getting to be less and less like it did in 2004. Still, Matsuzaka’s signing has got the hot stove fired up once again, even with the Patriots one win away from another division title and a playoff spot. Spring training officially begins on 16 February when pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to Fort Myers, so mark your calendars!
Well, we wish everyone a Merry Christmas and, to our Jewish friends, a belated Happy Hanukkah! May the spirit of the season keep your warm and merry!
Hot Stove
29 November 2006 @ 9:34 amSpooky
2 November 2006 @ 11:28 pm
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.
It Don’t Look Good
6 September 2006 @ 3:00 pm
Did a little research this morning on the state of the Red Sox, who lost 21 of 29 in August… entering the last game of the current series with the White Sox, the club is eight back of the Yanks in the East division and six back of the Twins for the wild card spot.
In reality, the Sox not only need to start winning but the Twins, Yanks, and White Sox need to fall into a funk similar to what Boston experienced in August and I just don’t see that happening. If New York plays .500 ball for the rest of the season (13-12), Boston would need to win 21 of their last 23 to win the division outright — New York has already won the season series. Plus, the last weekend of the season has the Twinks and the Pale Hose squaring off for three games, so Boston really needs to get ahead of those two teams before then to have a realistic chance to earn the wild card, and they have just three weeks and 20 games to do that.
After 2004, I’m sure anything is possible but, with just one starter still in the rotation from the first week of the season (Josh Beckett) and the closer (Jonathan Papelbon) shelved for possibly the rest of the year, can the Sox pull off the near-impossible? To me, shipping David Wells to San Diego pretty much told me that the Sox were raising the white flag on the season. But, we shall see…
If the Sox are eliminated, I’m going to root for the Tigers if they can hang on and win the division (four games up on Minnesota right now). After years of futility — 12 straight losing seasons dating back to 1994 — it would be nice to see them go the distance. Jim Leyland is severely underrated as a head coach and, IMO, more than deserves his second Manager of the Year award.
Leaves That Are Green
29 August 2006 @ 7:30 am
It’s hard to believe that September is right around the corner; where did the summer go? For most of July and August, we had hot and humid weather, but now the temperatures in the morning hover around 60 and it’s been raining on and off for the past week. Sooner than we know, we’ll be raking up leaves in the yard and, shortly after that, pulling out the snowblower to clear the driveway - yikes!
We had a nice visit on Sunday from Jeff’s mother and his uncle Marshall, who hails from West Palm Beach, FL. We realized that we hadn’t seen him in nearly three years; we missed him two years ago when he made his annual late-summer excursion north and last year he stayed home to care for Jeff’s aunt Amy, who had surgery to correct a problem with her back. Not surprisingly, he looked good and really enjoyed seeing his great niece Lea for the first time as well as his great nephew Jakob, who was just an infant when last we saw him. Hopefully we will see him again sooner than three years from now and, if we’re lucky, perhaps we’ll catch him down in Florida where we can enjoy some fun in the sun!
On the Sox front - well, August has been absolutely dreadful for Boston. Did I say dreadul? It’s been disasterous! As of this morning, they are 8-19 and have been swept three times, including a five-game sweep at the hands of the Yankees at Fenway Park. The bottom line is that the Sox have fallen far out of first place (seven back) and chances do not look good for our boys to make the playoffs this year. It’s easy to see why; several of the veterans and every-day players like Jason Varitek, Trot Nixon, Alex Gonzalez, Manny Ramirez, and Tim Wakefield are either out or hampered with injury and it’s an assortment of who’s who out there (quick, who’s Dustin Pedroia?).
The news this morning gets even worse; Big Papi, David Ortiz, was flown home from Oakland last night because of an irregular heartbeat and it’s unclear if he will be shelved for the rest of his season - hell, for the rest of his career. This is the man who, right now, is the heart and soul of this team and is in line for possible MVP consideration. That matters not a bit right now, though; the important thing is not to have another Reggie Lewis tragedy. Winning should be secondary when the health of any player is on the line and you have to respect the organization for putting aside concerns for the direction of this team to care for one of its own.
Get better soon, Big Papi, and GO SOX!!! We still believe…
Arbitrary Post To Appear Alive
16 August 2006 @ 12:29 pmRain Rain Go Away
16 May 2006 @ 10:00 pm
So you know, the photo was taken in town today. Fortunately, there will be no need to start building an oversized dinghy and placing calls to local zoos despite the 12-plus inches of rain that has fallen in the past few days. A good percentage of the Merrimack Valley is underwater these days but, fortunately for us, we are on high ground and, even better, only a small trickle of water has entered the basement, meaning that all that work we’ve done in the past year or so won’t suffer any future water damage.
If there’s good news, it’s that the Sox have now won 13 straight against the Baltimore Orioles after squeaking out a 6-5 win at Camden Yards tonight.
Go Isotopes!
9 May 2006 @ 7:38 am
Like it? This is our team logo for the upcoming softball season here at Raytheon. I say upcoming because we are still waiting to step foot on the field. League play was suppose to begin the last week of April but a new field was put in and, with the dry weather this spring, they are still waiting for the grass to take root in the outfield. Right now, they have the season starting the week of the 22nd but even that is in jeopardy. Our first game now won’t be until 30 May (the day after Memorial Day) so I guess it’s a wait-and-see approach. Hey, at least we have a cool logo, eh?
At least the Sox have been playing well as of late. After a tough stretch on the road to end last month, Boston returned to Fenway Park and took five-of-six last week, with wins against New York and Toronto, and a weekend sweep of Baltimore. This week starts off with the local nine on the road again, this time facing the Bronx Bombers at Yankee Stadium. Right now, both teams have their best starters lined up for the series: Josh Beckett and Randy Johnson tonight, Curt Schilling and Mike Mussina tomorrow, and Tim Wakefield and Shawn Chacón Thursday. The two teams also enter the series tied for first in the East and while some might say that it’s too early to worry about the standings, just point to last season when they finished tied at 95 wins apiece and New York won the tiebreaker on account that they had won one more game in the season series (10-9).
