The Nation Speaks

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Random observations from The Nation:

Hanley loves Jeter? "I just saw the little clip where protégé Hanley Ramirez has decided he idolizes Derek Jeter. Now before I say this, it should be pointed out that I am a die hard sox fan, with roots in Bangor, Maine, I live in south Florida and go to school in Boca Raton, where every other person is a Yankees fan, trust me on this, Sox fans like me are hard to find, I even started a group called Red Sox Fans Rock. So I need not be questioned, I may live in south Florida, but I listen to every single Sox game on XM radio, and before that became available used to get MLB ticket services.

"So here it goes, it doesn't bother me one bit that young Hanley idolizes Derek Jeter. Jeter is one of the few people who is the face of a franchise. Jeter is the Yankees, yes I hate the Yankees, yes if I saw Jeter in some low lit back alley, with a few drinks in me, his playing career would probably get cut short. But for As long as I can remember, Jeter has been a Yankee. I only hope that someday Hanley will be as hated and respected by the Yankees, as Jeter is by the Red Sox. Jeter makes some big money, no one is denying that much, but unlike other people on that team (Giambi, Brown, Jared Wright, hell even Randy Johnson so far this season) Jeter earns every damn dime they give him, I just hope Hanley doesn't end being as much of lush as Jeter (or ending up in love with his third baseman for the matter)

"From the sunny beaches of south Florida, Sox fan for life (minus the card holding privileges)" -- Mike Daley

Yankee Dome. "Thought everyone up in Boston should have an idea of what is happening down here in Tampa after the Sox-Rays series last weekend:

- "Sox vs. Rays average roughly about 30,000 fans for the weekend series. For the 3rd year in a row, Red Sox fans outnumber the Devil Ray fans four-to-one. Throughout each game a consistent "Here we go Red Sox, here we go" chant is over whelming while the Rays' fans are unable to keep up with the energy level of the Sox fans! In turn the Rays' management unsuccessfully pump the sound of "boos" into the stadium through the sound system in an attempt to drown out the Sox fans' chants.

- "After the series and the benches clearing on Sunday the Tampa area sport radio stations continue their tyrant (sic) on Sox fans with a little more vigor we have now gone from loud and out numbering to as one painfully boring DJ on 620 AM likes to say "jack-offs!" They rip into anything Boston and call us nothing but bandwagon fans who don't know baseball (I am sure with a World Series championship there are a few bandwagon fans but I tend to believe not all of us are!) They prank call the Sox and quite a few stations to disrupt, as they put it, the sad state of Red Sox Nation. (all in all quite amusing that they have now spent two weeks talking about the Red Sox to be honest)

- "They decide they need to outnumber the Sox fans at the next series and begin a campaign called "Shell Schilling" quickly they realize that they do not have enough Rays' fans to outnumber the 15,000-20,000 Sox fans who attend games in Tampa so they turn to large base of Yankee fans in Tampa and are now requesting Yankee fans to join them in the next series to do nothing but make life miserable for Sox fans and when he pitches Curt Schilling.

- "I propose that Red Sox fans from all over make a point to join the sox fans of SW Florida, if possible, come to Tampa in July and out number as we always do not only the Rays' fans in their home stadium but now also the Yankee fans who are signing up by the dozens to attend the games and make a night at the park miserable for the Red Sox players and fans.

- "Any help you can provide spreading the word and helping turn Tropicana field into a sea of Sox fans would be appreciated

"Just think of the sight... Monday night baseball on ESPN (why would ESPN be carrying the game...Sox-Rays, has been the headline for four straight days) they scan the crowd and all that is seen and heard is Sox fans taking over a visiting Stadium!" -- Red Sox Fan Southwest Florida

Vote for Pedro.  "Enough about Pedro already!!! The guy is gone and the whole character assassination thing you've got going here got old before spring training!! Let it go already. Why can't you just take Pedro's time in a Sox uniform for what it was- a couple of the best years anyone has ever seen and a couple of very good years....and oh yeah....the first World Championship in 86 years!!!! Why can't you just be thankful that the guy was here, accept the fact that he's gone, and move on? This is the same nonsense that has always gone on with the Boston media, because of knuckleheads like you who can't get enough of trashing a player because he left. You bitch about the stereotypes of Sox fans that are upheld by crap like Fever Pitch and the idiots on 'EEI, but you do more to uphold it than just about anyone out there." -- Greg Vassak

Vote for Theo. "...Here is the question that remains unanswered: If the Sox were willing to give Martinez as many as three years by the time December arrived, why didn't they offer that to him in March 2004 in hopes of preventing him from going to free agency altogether?" -- Tony Massarotti, Boston Herald"

"I can't read Theo's mind, but do you think maybe it had something to do with the idea that they wanted to make sure he made it through the year healthy? By extending him in March 2004 at 3 years $40 million you'd run the risk of signing a guy who may never pitch during that new extension. By waiting until the off season you can avoid that first year of risk... so, if Theo was playing Xbox this would be a great question. Theo took a calculated risk and it didn't work out (he wanted Pedro at 3 years and $40 Mil and didn't get him). Losing Pedro was a risk worth taking when you consider the downside, Pedro getting hurt in 2004 and never throwing a pitch during his $40 million dollar extension.... In Theo We Trust, In Mazz we expect better questions!" -- Tom

Old school Lou. "The problem is, Curt has a short memory. He doesn't remember when he was a young pitcher. We have a lot of young pitchers here and they're trying to learn to pitch at the big-league level. Our kids are learning to pitch inside and they have to do that to survive up here." -- Lou Pinella

Actually Lou, the problem is that you don't know how to use stats: Schilling's HBP each year since 1988: 1988 - 1, 1989 - 0, 1990 - 0, 1991 - 0, 1992 - 1..." -- Michael, New Braunfels, TX

Zimmer down. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Zimmer use the "You don't throw at a guys head" excuse when he charged Pedro during the "Zimmer Down" episode back at Fenway in 03? It would appear that Zim is giving approval to throwing at guys heads by his silence. Zim and Pinella are two of the biggest hypocrites in the game today, Zim for his silence, and Lou for his arrogance. I don't think that there is a baseball fan alive today who thinks that Pinella didn't order his pitchers to throw at the Sox batters. He knows that next time the Sox come to town he'll put asses in the seats of that crappy field down there in Tampa in anticipation of an all out brawl. Nice going jackasses. Once a Yankee, always a Yankee" -- John Peterson, Santa Monica, CA

"Nomar Never Used Steroids." "Not that I think it will matter to you but kudos on the Nomar bit. I have been critical in the past but that was an impressive thing for you to do." -- Patrick Sullivan

Read More of The Nation Speaks

BDD is a feature of Boston.com. All posts are by Steve Silva unless otherwise indicated.

Boston Globe:

Rodriguez looks like the steal deal > Despite effort by Rodriguez, Red So fall > Tazawa has come a long way, on and off field

Boston Herald:

Lauber: Eduardo Rodriguez showing Red Sox he's special > PawSox start looms large for Masterson

ProJo:

Rodriguez gem wasted > Chili Davis doesn't want to turn Red Sox into free-swingers > Red Sox draft catcher in third round

NY Post:

How Mariano Rivera has influenced Yankees' top pick > Why starting rotation could be a big Yankees' strength

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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, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

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