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Barks & Bites

The Schilling Fields

11.30.03:  It's a whole new ballgame. And that's not a Nomar Garciaparra forced post-game cliché. Red Sox Nation has been transformed into The Sons of Curt Schilling overnight. And the mainstream media is swimming upstream as the internet killed the radio, newspaper, and television story on the signing of Curt Schilling over this Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Thanks to CyberCurt himself.

'EEI hosts like Yankee fan Craig Mustard "I don't do that chat thing" and out of touch Mike Adams sounded like buffoons trying to explain what happened over the weekend. A writer for the Boston Herald in today's edition thinks the Sons of Sam Horn is actually about Sam Horn, making their paper look like a lost soul in the hot space.

Let the record show the apocalypse came upon us at 2:41am EST on Friday morning when Curt Schilling, more than curious to get a take on what Sox fans were saying, went online at the redsox.com fan forum looking for some action. He got it and then some. Curt's first thread on the MLB board was entitled "Will be hard to believe I am sure." As the online universe is filled with everything from moles, to trolls, to a-holes, it was nearly impossible to believe, especially on that unmoderated forum filled mostly with AOL kids.

But Curt's entry into the Wired Nation was legit as he wanted to clear up some gross inaccuracies reported in the "legit" media about his demands and desires. He asked that "this information remain here"... umm Curt, you were posting on the internet, it's an email world (sincerely, Paris Hilton), the Red Sox have the biggest following and most intense media coverage of any professional sports team on the planet, this is the biggest story of the offseason to date.... so surprise! ESPN.com posts the entire letter verbatim in a matter of hours.

Next, Curt the night owl found his way into the SoSH chatroom where "GodSamGod" was asking "chonce" the burning question: "Think they (Yankees) want to do the Claussen deal over again?" Curt then tries to join in the conversation in an effort to get his letter to the fans posted on SoSH. Again asking this hardcore crowd to believe that it's Curt Schilling, posting in their chatroom, with 15 hours to go in his negotiating widow with the Red Sox. So they gave him a little rope to run with, and run he did, talking anything and everything under the Red Sox sun with the caveat that it remain private and out of the hands of the credentialed media. The partial excerpt provided here on the amusing exchange between the posters and Curt quoting our 110pt. type "DONE DEAL" breaking news headline OK'd to post (hey, and as soon as Theo got on that plane, failure was not an option).

In the chat with the then Arizona Diamondback pitcher, Curt provided many anecdotes relating to his career and was quick to reply with little known facts like "I pitched my first game against Bruce Hurst." He soon convinced the diehard chatters that he was the real deal. But there were still doubters. Once Curt left around 4:30am (2:30am in Paradise Valley, AZ), "Butch Hobson's Elbow Chips" was vehemently unconvinced and chimed in with "I saw nothing I couldn't pull off retro sheet site or know from following his career in Philly... there could be 1,000 places to buy cheesesteaks but to not even mention FAMOUS Pats or Ginos is absurd... a pro athlete who has been burned hundreds of times in his life by reporters is not popping into a chat room to casually discuss the status of his on-going negotiations and hang out for 2 hours... BOTH J Henry & the Dentist will give him clearance before Curt Schilling ever comes to SoSH."

Well, it now appears obvious Curt Schilling is not a "clearance" kind of guy. He'll never ask for permission... or forgiveness.  And we love it.

At 5:48pm, John Henry breaks the official news that Curt is coming to Boston (shortly after Jason Stark broke the news on ESPN).... online, at SoSH. And naturally Curt came back Saturday to do another online chat. He even comes up on the right side of the great Bear vs. Shark debate, he's clearly a genius not to take the shark bait. His generous donation to the Jimmy Fund, and work with ALS and The Shade Foundation (see link in right border) are beyond commendable. The next stop on the Schilling online tour was Royal Rooters where he clarified deferral payment questions today. He's exchanged a couple of emails with us. He is the king of all online media, surpassing even John W. Henry.

Sunday night? Still talking to Sox fans about anything from potential Yankee trades to Koufax comparisons. He loves to talk baseball. And you know what? He already knows more about the people who make up Red Sox Nation than Pedro, Manny, and Nomar combined. He's unscripted, unedited, unbound, and it's all unprecedented. It's 38 degrees in Boston tonight. Coincidence?

Move over Tom Brady, Paul Pierce, Joe Thornton, Nomar Garciaparra, and you too Pedro Martinez, there really is a new sheriff in town. And Red Sox Nation will never be the same.


The New Master and Commander Addendums: 11.26.03: Theo borrowed "Boston's Greatest Sports Video" from The Place to show Schill on his trip.

11.24.03 - David Ortiz will be signing autographs (for a fee, with ticket) on Sunday, November 30 from 5:30-7:00pm at Nashua Sports collectibles on Main Street in Nashua, NH.

11.20.03 - Here's hoping Terry Francona really is the second coming of Joe Torre. But no need for concern that Terry's not a household name right now. As Jackie McMullen said on NESN's SportsPlus tonight "don't worry about how big the name is, worry about who the guy is." Sincerely, Rick Pitino. Here's hoping Terry Francona really is the second coming of Joe Torre. But no need for concern that Terry's not a household name right now. As Jackie McMullen said on NESN's SportsPlus tonight "don't worry about how big the name is, worry about who the guy is." Sincerely, Rick Pitino.

Just your average LapTopJoe apparently: "It intimidates anybody," Maddon said. "Anybody who says it didn't would be a liar. It's a very ominous situation. It's something that I don't think you can walk into and feel totally comfortable. You have to grow into it. You have to get there, feel the pulse, feel what's going on and understand it. I have somewhat of an understanding from going in and out of town [with the Angels]. But it's an intimidating job. It's a big job." Just what we need, a manager who is spooked before the Ghost of Grady Little even gets to haunt him.

Poll on boston.com/SportsPlus: "Are today's home run records tainted because of steroid use?" 91% said yes. Ouch.

Hey when A-Rod only has one teammate at his wedding, won't return his manager's calls because a clubhouse kid was let go, and you hear countless other things that make you go hmmm, you need to kick the tires a bit. As long as he can clean up his act before he accepts the role of Captain, and all that goes with that in Boston, he'll make a fine superstar shortstop here. WFAN flamed the latest A-Rod-Manny-Nomar-Glaus package today. Speaking of wedding bells, congratulations to Nomar and Mia who are getting married right down the street from Neverland this Saturday (yikes!). We already sent them matching "Grrrciaparra's Back!" t-shirts.

Listening to his old post game conferences, Grady Little often sounded like a southern (sober) Foster Brooks in rare form. Maybe Grady had acid reflux disease in addition to brain farts.

Todd Walker told some Boston area fourth graders in October "I get a check for $225 thousand dollars every two weeks." Would he take half that now to stay?

John-in-the-Car goes on the Web too: The best-selling book on the new economy, The Cluetrain Manifesto, advocates that markets are conversations. They consist of human beings, not demographics or sectors. And the Internet frees people from the traditional corporate notion of customers as consumers. According to the Manifesto, "the spiritual lure of the Web is the promise of the return of voice." Human voices engaged in frank and open discussion - sometimes funny, sometimes caustic, but always real. That's the promise of the Web. And to the authors, that's exactly what businesses have to realize - and adapt to. Well John Henry once again "gets it" as the Red Sox owner has mastered the art of "free, spirited discussion" with members on SoSH, even those who screamed for Charles Dolan or Joe O'Donnell while blasting John for his record in Florida and the "Selig bag job." "Taken cash out of the team? LOL! Do you think the Fenway improvements are free? So far so good, guys. No cash has been taken out so far. Keep you posted!" posted Henry adding "All teams right now, especially us, would love to have more flexibility because the market for players is so weak. Just as it's not all about money for players or for owners, it's not all about money in fielding the right team. It's about 25 guys. That 24th and 25th guy turn out to be very important in baseball over 162 games. If we learned one thing from the Yankees over the past 7-8 years, it is that." Also check out "Dinner with the Dawg" on December 6th at the Waverly Oaks Athletic Club Sports Grille in Waltham. Jerry will be hosting a holiday buffet style dinner ($60 large a head) and collect "Toys for Tots."  Rem will be also posting a Christmas carol sung by the Dawg with background harmony supplied by the mellow tones of the Pound Puppies. Check it out along with anything he and John can squeeze a RemDawg logo on at www.theremyreport.com.

Tommy Harper does not like it when you call someone a dog.

Bruce Springsteen's Fenway Park concert will be broadcast by NESN on Thanksgiving night at 10 p.m. The half-hour program, "The Boss in Boss Town: Bruce Springsteen at Fenway Park Special," is reportedly a "making of"-style feature on the Fenway shows, to include partial song footage as well as backstage footage of the pre-production process, interviews with the road crew and management team, and possibly with band members as well.

Lobel is doing another chat. You can send questions into Royal Rooters here. Hopefully we'll get more gems like this from his boston.com chat in October: "Kim is on the endangered species list. Sources have told me that after he was pulled in Game 1 in Oakland, and Embree surrendered the game-tying hit, Kim was seen smiling on the bench and Todd Jones had to be restrained from going after him."

Letterman is practically begging Paris Hilton to reconsider and come on his show next week.

Good to hear Sean McDonough back on the radio talking Red Sox the other day, not good to hear that he and his posse were acting up in the crowd during the ALCS games at Fenway. Also bumped into #1 Boston Bum John Harrington during the Yankee series. And now it looks like Mrs. Yawkey's jewelry thief is at it again, padding the coffers of his flunkies with obnoxious salaries at The Yawkey Trust.

Amazing the Red Sox were selling "Reverse the Curse" shirts on  redsox.com during the playoffs. But now I wonder which one of these two shirts (image link right) is the real worst seller? Thankfully the Red Sox did trash their own custom version of the "Cowboy Up" song during the playoffs at Fenway to save face.

Best Halloween costume we saw: Assaulted Red Sox groundskeeper Paul Williams, complete with faux neck brace. By the way, Paul Williams is an animal and would have torn Jeff Nelson and Karim Garcia in half in a fair one-on-two fight. Look for the Bronx bullies to be found guilty as charged because there's not an atmosphere of "lawlessness in Boston" as Yankees president Randy Levine would have you believe.

All 61 available-to-the-public-tickets for the potential World Series at Fenway were gone in 60 seconds.

Many thanks for giving: to WEEI's Gerry Callahan who said we're "a Red Sox fan site with an attitude" and to Fox-25's Butch Stearns for giving us a holler on the BK brouhaha. Also thanks to Kiss 108's Matty in the Morning, the Hartford Courant, NESN's Chris Collins, and CN-8's Ed Berliner for having us on their shows recently. And Lobel for knowing what's funny and for running Fenway Francona up the flagpole.

Dan Shaughnessy got a new illustrated headshot in the print Globe during the playoffs. This one doesn't look as much like his high school yearbook photo, but it's still the 40 year old version.

Aaron Boone hits the pennant winning home run for the Yankees then goes home to his Playboy adult-film-making wife. Life is not fair. But his brother Brett was the worst color man in the history of sports broadcasting.

The last band in our summer music series, Finger 11, was outstanding… The head bangers from Static X were horrible.

When reading some of the wild arguments of various statheads these days, I am reminded of Larry Lucchino's old saying about certain trial lawyers "These are the conclusions on which I will base my facts."


Catching the Bus 10.5.03 - After witnessing another come-back-from-the-dead absolute must win that shook Fenway off its foundation for the second day in a row, they weren't ready to drive home just yet.

They wanted to catch the bus.

For more than an hour after the game ended, a couple hundred fired up fans waited raucously for their comeback cowboys to up and out of the clubhouse and get on the traveling bus. As the throng grew along the back of Yawkey Way and Van Ness by the player's lot, 16 uniformed officers gathered on foot, 6 more on motorcycle who would act as escort, 12 Fenway security personnel settled in. The police barricade was pushed further back to open up the road as the crowd squeezed together even tighter. It was Oakland or bus.

There were three busses idling, one behind the other, waiting for Fenway's frequent fliers to fill them. Then off to the charter they would go. One right after the next, chants broke out as the faithful waited for a glimpse of Walker, or Nomar, or Pedro, or Trot. We wanted to be thrown under the bus today.

Soon, the inner sanctum trickled out the back door to wait for the players as well. From Joe Castig to Doctor Morgan the mob roared when they appeared. We cheered loudly for Stacey Lucchino, revved up the Rem Dawg, and Rodrigo in security. Yahoos yelled to a Cowboy Up bandanna-wearing Doug Mirabelli. Trinka Lowe and the little Lowes got a shout out, and a kiss from Derek. Then John Henry drove his big ass beemer out of the lot himself... he gave us the finger, but not that one.

Suddenly, the driver of the second bus started honking away, as if waiting for the parked one in front of him to pull out, like the guy beeping in his Volkswagen that is still on the assembly line in that commercial. This guy had a heavy hand. "BEEEEP," he honked again. He couldn't wait to get rolling.

Upon closer inspection of the honking Ralph Kramden, we discovered this impatient would-be driver was none other than the rally Manny himself, in a sweet baby blue suit with a tie-so-tight sitting in the driver's seat of bus #2, honking away, laughing away, pretending to be peeved that the bus ahead of him was causing traffic. He did this for what seemed like an hour. Honk, laugh, point, beep, laugh. Sharp dressed man of the hour Pedro settled in behind Manny, yapping on his cell, but gesturing to the crowd when the "PE-DRO, PE-DRO" chant became too loud for him to ignore. "BEEEEEP." Adrian Brown and Damian Jackson opened the side window wanting the crowd to keep it going.

Manny honks the horn again "BEEEEEP" and keeps laughing.

Someone sticks a cell phone out the bus window so you could hear the noise on the other end. Rock solid Tek came out and got on. "Let's Go Red Sox" breaks out again, followed by "Cowboy Up" and a holler of "Show us David Ortiz"... and the Big O showed, with his natty jacket and cap on he climbed in, and he immediately popped his head through the just-opened sunroof to salute the crazed onlookers.

The crowd erupted, taking the noise to another level. The "MVP" chant takes over. Manny honked the horn, pointed to everyone, smiled, laughed, honked. The official bus driver finally came up while Manny took his seat. The busses pulled away. Good times.


Dear John Doe 10.1.03 - In yesterday's Boston Globe, and other New England newspapers (except Hartford naturally), an unidentified man who only goes by the first name "John" took out a double-truck full color ad (below) thanking everyone associated with the Boston Red Sox for a great 2003 season. "John" made only one mistake in his extensive, rambling tribute, claiming that Manny Ramirez was "the best hitter in the league." I believe that title went to Bill Mueller on Sunday, but we'll give "John" a mulligan on that one since the race was close when he had to put his ad to bed. "John" ends this exhaustive "thank you" by telling us that "if we get down a game or two... don't fret." Down a game or two?!? Man the negativity in this town sucks. So who was this mystery John? Was it would-be President John Kerry? Former ivory tower occupant John Harrington? Plaid daddy John Valentin? Pope John Paul II? We may never know the full identity of this rabid Red Sox fan. But thanks for the effort John Doe. P.S. John thanks Ramiro Mendoza for "his kindness." ...to opposing batter's I guess.

Taped last Thursday night's celebration... right over Curse of the Bambino.

Late, Late Show's Craig Kilborn did a lame Sox fan vs. Cubs fan bit. The Sox fan, "Goldie," thinks the Sox won it all in 1986. Yes, there was a gratuitous Bill Buckner mention. "I've had the pleasure, or the misfortune, of playing for both," said Padres reliever Rod Beck, who also pitched for the Giants and started his professional career with the Athletics organization. "I can tell you, if either team just gets into the World Series, there will be partying all over the place. "And if you actually win the world championship in either city, you better move there, because you'll never have to pay for anything for the rest of your life."

What to wear. I'm confused about what shirt or jacket I'm supposed to put on for the game on Saturday. Trot Nixon asks us to, in Charles Steinberg's words, "paint the town red." OK, so should I grab my St. Louis Cardinals, Anaheim Angels, or Korean soccer team jersey? I guess I can't wear my lucky "1967 American League Champions" jacket because it has blue in it (taboo with excess red gear left to sell right?). A classic Boston Dirt Dogs original t-shirt? Not dead red. I could wear the original red "The time is here... so Cowboy Up!" shirt that the team wore under their uniforms... or the one that says "don't (fool) with us." Or is it "don't just lay there and bleed?" Maybe "We don't know %#&!" Timlin's camouflage "He who is wrapped up in himself is overdressed" original team 2003 official unofficial shirt is just too ugly. And it doesn't come in red. Is "The Hunt for Red Soxtober," the email mantra, in the hunt? The Grady-Damon Puma contract shirts are red. That would work, but it's too cold for t's alone. I'll have to buy a red jacket... for $800 on redsox.com. RemDawg, Dirt Bag, Gamer, Millar Time, Reverse the Curse, and Yankee Suck shirts are not... well, red. The Wild Card Champion t-shirts are an embarrassment to mankind. And they're beige to boot. Where have the Papa Jack shirts gone to? The David Ortiz Cowboy Up cartoon ransom note style shirts (knockoff above right) are out of circulation, and not licensed (yanked off Cafe Press). But the Red Sox just signed a deal to sell the Kevin Millar version Cowboy Up! shirt (left). Kevin signed his own deal with the official Cowboy Up trademark owners, no Red Sox logos or players in it, just some rodeo cowboy with a Boston harbor backdrop... and the shirt is blue. They've got more t-shirts than World Series Champion banners in a W.B. Mason commercial.

Next year, please, get rid of the red. They're the Red Sox... not the Red Shirts. Like the new Coke (apologies to Dan Shaughnessy), the red is not working. We know what to do at Fenway without instructions thank you. Remember "Dar-ryl" and "Where is Roger?" taking over the park? Oh, right, you guys weren't here then.

Speaking of t-shirts, the Red Sox brass have finally shown the balls to step up to take out the larger of the two Yankees Suck gangs who sell outside the park. Problem is, no one wanted to pay the bill to the Boston code enforcement officers who patrol the activity on the surrounding streets. Mike Dee finally dug deep, found the invoice, and put the money where their mouth was. And now you will begin to see the Yankees Suck plague quietly slip away at Fenway (the chant was already dead).

After having no luck in the virtual panic room, I got "lucky" with redial and was fortunate enough to get two, awful, separate, grandstand seats for the ALCS Saturday game in Boston (vs. Yankees right?) for the bargain price of $186.00.

When the Red Sox win it all it will make the Patriots little football championship seem like a quiet picnic. The celebration on the field last Thursday night was mandated by major league baseball, but the players' sprint across the street to Who's on First, then to the Baseball Tavern, was not. One former Sox player we ran into thought the outside the park celebration was a bit much for a team that "hasn't won anything yet" and that some of the veteran players should have "stepped up to stop it." He went on to say that the team "should not badmouth Oakland until they beat them" and that "the pressure in the playoffs will tighten up their a--holes like never before... one mistake and everyone will tighten up."

That 70's sale: Tom Werner is looking to save a buck on everything and everything around Fenway whenever he comes to town, playing the old "do you know who I am?" card and "do we get a discount?". I'm talking $10.00 items here. Yikes. Meanwhile, if you watch a game with Larry Lucchino in the owner's box, you'll hear enough MF-bombs to make a WWII sailor blush.

You want the Yankees to go five and use a lot of resources against the Twins in the process, but you want to play the Lakers, not the Rockets, for the AL pennant. Go Yanks.

A match made for e-Bay. A friend of our sold his Springsteen at Fenway t-shirts for $90.00 a pop on the famous auction site. Another friend of ours sold these nifty Springsteen at Fenway posters from the Globe in June, free handouts, with Varitek on the back, for as much as $250.00 on e-bay. I mean, they were free in June.

The winning 4-mula: While the police were called in, literally, to break up the thousands of people surrounding Lobel's live shot on top of the 'BZ truck the night of the celebration, poor Mike Ratte of channel 56, only 500 yards away, didn't have one person watching his live report on top of the WLVI truck.

It's been a Summer of Love for our Acerbic Ace. Although you'd never know it by his surly mood all season. Wonder if our Playboy got Pharyngitis from too much spit swappin' kissin'? Naturally his Diva-ness was silent yesterday. Maybe he was afraid of catching something from the media's microphones. File under NY Model Citizen...or Nanny and the Professor. Who cares as long as he gets the big W tonight. Go Pedro!!! And go Sox!!!


Barks and Bites - January - June 2003

Barks and Bites - June - December 2002

Barks and Bites - May 2002

Barks and Bites - March/April 2002

2001 Barks and Bites


Wild Card Wannabees

AL Wild

W

L

GB

Oakland

46

36

---

Boston

45

37

1.0

Anaheim

44

39

2.5

Chicago

42

38

3.0

Tampa Bay

42

41

4.5

AL East

W

L

GB

New York

51

31

---

Boston

45

37

6.0

Tampa Bay

42

41

9.5

Toronto

38

46

14.0

Baltimore

36

45

15.0


Get Everything Red Sox at The Souvenir Store

Right across from Fenway 19 Yawkey Way, Boston


The “Curt’s Pitch for ALS” program is a joint effort by Curt and Shonda Schilling, and The ALS Association Mass Chapter to strike out Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Curt and Shonda will be contributing $25,000 to The ALS Association Massachusetts Chapter, and they are asking fans to contribute as well. All proceeds will benefit research and patient services for those in Massachusetts affected by the disease. Program participants will receive different incentive prizes based on the dollar amount per strikeout that they pledge. Please click here to learn more about the program.

Schilling is Top Good Guy


The SHADE Foundation

The Curt and Shonda Schilling Melanoma Foundation of America welcomes Red Sox Nation to join in their fight to save future generations from melanoma, a potentially preventable skin cancer.


Get a Danny O Fenway Litho, as Seen in the Cooperstown Catalog


Chasing Steinbrenner

Exclusive excerpts on the Kevin Millar signing


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