|
 |
Boston Globe:
Sox-Yanks pitching matchups > Sox do it again > Wake Comments
were doctored > Robinson's legacy set in stone > Thumbs |
Boston Herald:
'Tek good in pinch > Heckuva first game > Cora corralled >
Schilling offers a far-from-Curt response > Chamberlain to miss
Sox |
ProJo:
Varitek's 9th inning homer fuels comeback > Ailing Cora could be
put on the DL > Schilling insists: I won't play for Yankees >
Wrapup |
Hartford Courant:
Farnsworth comes up big in Yankees win > ESPN settles with
Reynolds > Phillies beat Astros > Tigers rally past Twins |
|
It's Red Sox vs. YankeeZZZzzzzz: Rivalry's Buzz Takes a Beating
38Pitches: 'Umm, no.' | Wilbur: Space Shot | Yankee Swap
Video: Big Papi Explains Reason for Hitting Woes
Aug 31, 2004:
Don't Look Now New York
Hamm-ing it Up
Meanwhile, North of the Border
"Manager Dusty Baker said if shortstop Nomar Garciaparra had been able to handle catcher Michael Barrett's throw and tag out a stealing Endy Chavez, Prior could have held the Expos to one run in the first. Garciaparra didn't catch the ball cleanly, it appeared, and three runs followed later in the inning." -- Chicago Sun Times | Top 10 screenshot courtesy of our friends at Royville.com
Schillenegger
The Terminator
Hasta la vista, baby!
Sox 10 Caleefornia 7
Mike Myers Nearly Turns Blowout into a Horrow Show
"It's one of those days you pray that you show up and do your job, because it's such an awesome thing to be out there in front of those people... it was enough to give me chills." -- Curt Schilling
Schill Gets Chills... Watching Mueller Play Third
Trophy Guys Cy Schilling and MVP Manny
Rise Above Anaheim's Angels
Cleveland Squeezes Past New York 22-0,
Sox Three Games Back in Loss Column
"Contrary to the belief of a lot of people (read: morons) in this region, the Yankees don't suck." -- Cy Schilling
Georgie Porgie's Gonna Need Some Vodka After Last Night
"If you are watching a horse race with one horse ten and a half lengths in the lead, and suddenly the second place horse begins to close in on that leader to just three lengths, you have to think that the leader is in big, big trouble." -- Michael Kay, Yankee broadcaster
"As of Saturday, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays had a lower team ERA (4.55) than the New York Yankees (4.57). That is one of the more amazing stats in recent sports history, if you ask me." -- Peter King, Sports Illustrated
Aug 30, 2004:
He Was Just 17
You know what I mean.
Ready, Schilling, and Able
Cy Schilling cranks it up a notch tonight
More...
Sox Streak Continues
Only 4-1/2 Games Back
"The only difference between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees in 2004 are the teams' individual records against the Baltimore Orioles." - Dan LeBetard of ESPN Radio
Wakefield Campaign Run Rolls Through Detroit
Outstanding Outing is Par for the Course for Tim as He Hits the Greens Again and Putts Clean to Win Tiger Tournament.
'Manny Ortez' is Clutch, Sox Sweep 6-1
Sveum!
Sveum!
He's gonna wave forever.
He sends Ortiz on a fly,
Why?
He feels it's now or never,
Dale Sveum will send 'em then cry
Sveum!
He can't even make it a close play,
Out like a light, douse the flame,
Sveum!
He's gonna wave forever,
Davey remember his name,
Remember, Remember, Remember, Remember, Remember, Remember.
Detroit Rocked City
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Martinez Manhandles Tigers
Bellhorn, Mueller, Damon Take Care of Offense,
Sox Rock On 5-1
Aug 27, 2004:
Hair of the Dog
Detroit is the Cure for a Three Month Hangover
Sox Keep Motor Running, Top Toothless Tigers
High 5-3 for D-Lowe
Animal Cracker
Derek Lowe (W 12-10) 8.0 7 3 3 0 7
Oh Ricky You're So Fine... Gutierrez Goes 3-4
X-Rays Negative on Manny's Foul Off Knee.
Mueller, Foulke Join Walking Wounded.
SCHILLING HEADED BACK TO ARIZONA
Curt Won't Be Coming Down to Plow Your Driveway with His Ford F-150, He's Hitchhiking Back to Paridise Valley
And rumors that these two aren't close were greatly exaggerated. In fact, they may be a little too close. What's up with that Shonda?
Boston Red Sox ace Curt Schilling said today that he plans to leave Boston after this season
Mass#@%! and Stupid Star Gazers Driving Schillings Away to Arizona
Political insider says move could hurt Curt's potential run for Governor
8.27.04: Curt Schilling on with Loren and Wally 105.7 WROR. L/R: (With Curt's kids going back to school) "Are they worried that kids are only gonna like them because of who their father is?"
Curt Schilling: "You know what? That's a been a very, very big issue for us here. How the kids have been treated. On both sides of the fence. Just a very different, not altogether positive situation. It's something we've had to deal with. It's something that... umm one of the reasons why I think probably we're gonna end up living in Arizona during the winter time. (Really?) Yeah, it's not a good situation and "kids are kids"... and it's something Shonda and I have stressed that time and time again with our kids as far as, who they are and not what they are, it's just really hard here. But we had a perfect set up in Arizona, all four kids had, we had a next door neighbor with four kids who were the same age, so were waffling a lot of different things like that but it's just been a very different environment, both for them and for Shonda."
Today's the Day
$1,550,000 Million Raised And Counting...
"Outstanding" -- Don Orsillo
And Tonight's Not the Night
CN-8's Ed Berliner called to say they are still taking donations for the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation and the Bobble Bash will be rescheduled soon.
Aug 26, 2004:
BROKEN "GLASS" EVERYWHERE
And Beating a Dead Horse's Ass
"We said at the time of the trade that we were making the changes to make us a better team"
-- 8.27 Sox GM Theo Epstein
Bad News Bear: Cubs fans already annoyed with sketchy shortstop's stories
If #5 stayed in Boston, today would be day 14 of 15 on the DL. Cabrera hitting .368 (21-for-57) since Aug. 15.
WRIST WATCH IS ON
And Tender Garciaparra Unlikely to Play on Expos Turf
UPDATE -- Gammons on WEEI's Big Show 8.26.04: "Chicago didn't lie about Nomar's injury to keep it from Houston when they told people he was sitting out because of his Achilles and it was his wrist. They can see what he looks like in batting practice. They lied to keep Nomar happy... it's about his contract... I'm worried about this wrist. He's in a contract year and he's got tendon problems in his wrist and his heel... it's too bad... he carried so much resentment towards Red Sox management. And all this business with the dirt in front of shortstop, "they're tapping my phone," I mean..."
UPDATE -- NECN's Chris Collins, Improper Bostonian 8.25.04: "A source close to the ordeal tells me that a big moment in the breakup came upon Nomar's return from his honeymoon this past off-season. He got off the plane in Los Angeles and immediately called Sox owner Tom Werner to ask about where the team was with the Alex Rodriguez negotiations. Werner invited Nomar over to his Southern California mansion the next day to assure him that the A-Rod thing was dead and all their time and energy would be focused on keeping Nomar with the Sox. Days later Garciaparra got a phone call telling him that Sox CEO and president Larry Lucchino and Epstein were on their way to Texas to meet with A-Rod. Nomar and his agent Arn Tellum, apparently called the duo as Lucchino and Epstein were on their way to do the Texas two-step and pursue the A-Rod deal again. That conversation reportedly ended with Lucchino saying "(Bleep) you Arn, (Bleep) you!" That's the way Lucchino does business. Nobody can question his intellect: He's become a rich man in baseball management. But let's be honest: His temper played a huge role in the Sox failure to land Rodriguez, and his lack of candor played a significant role in Nomar's reluctance to stay in Boston."
"There's some talk out in Chicago that he may need surgery on that wrist but let's wait and see."
-- 8.25.04: CBS-4's Bob Lobel on UPN-38's 10:45 Sports
UPDATE: Remy Report Post Confirms Nomar Wrist Rumor: "...overheard Dr. Morgan discussing that Garciaparra will undergo season ending wrist surgery."
According to a Boston Dirt Dogs source, former Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra may have to have season-ending wrist surgery in the near future on the injured tendon in his left wrist. Red Sox sources were "not surprised" to hear about this new development.
Bad News Bear Back in the Lineup
Mr. Hamm Re-Injures Wrist
(Not the one he had the surgery on, the left one, which he has injured before as well)
More MRI Than RBI: Will Garciaparra Go Back on the DL
Like He Promised to in Boston?
Cubs Hiding Garciaparra's Injuries!
"As for the latest injury to the superstar shortstop nicknamed "Glass" by his minor-league teammates because of his fragile nature, it's just as curious as all the others to hit the Cubs this season." -- 8.24: Chris De Luca, Sun Times (House of "Glass" is perfect. Smooth yet fragile.)
"Garciaparra didn't mention the injury when talking to reporters about his Achilles' tendon in Houston after Sunday's game, and the Cubs didn't let on either. "That could be a possibility," Garciaparra said (regarding going on the DL). "That's something we haven't discussed or gotten into yet. Right now, we're looking at the present day and the very near future, and see how that goes. Then we'll worry about the rest when it comes." -- 8.23: Cubs shortstop Nomar Garciaparra
"But we have to wait to see what's up with Nomar because if you put him on the DL and it's only a matter of a few days, then you've lost him [for 15 days]. We just have to wait this out and see." -- 8.23: Cubs manager Dusty Baker
"Could he play Tuesday? "There's a possibility," Garciaparra said. "Right now we're going day to day, and that's the attitude we're taking right now. (The wrist) is going to tell me. There's been some discomfort. There was a reason for the exam but at the same time it's more symptomatic and you have to listen to it."
Is Nomore taking a shot at Tito and Theo? "Garciaparra is expected to undergo an MRI exam at Northwestern Memorial today when he visits team orthopedist Stephen Gryzlo and hopes to be cleared for a return to the lineup.
"I'm going to see the doctor and check things out," said Garciaparra, adding that he told manager Dusty Baker he could play Sunday against the Astros. "[Sunday] was one of those days. I told Dusty I was ready to play. He's great. He's like, 'No, you're not playing, I'm making the decision.' "He's looking after me, which says a lot about him. He said, 'Let's get more answers.' I'll have more answers for you [today]."
MLB.com: "Do you know if today's opposing starting pitcher is right-handed or left-handed?"
Garciaparra: "I have no idea."
Nobody Missing Nomar
"There isn't anybody doing their own thing now and that's different. Nomar had a lot of things going on and he's introverted. He had the Achilles'. He had the contract. And it was its own story. Every day with the trade,
that changed the atmosphere immediately in here."
-- 8.27.04: Curt Schilling to Dan Shaughnessy
We hadn't played so great before the trade happened. Now we're playing better. I don't know what the reason is. It would be unfair to say that trading Nomar is the reason, but is it part of it? I think so, yeah." -- Kevin Millar in the Boston Globe on the Sox after trading Nomar
"We're all getting along great, this is a good bunch of guys. We got rid of one superstar, but we got three everyday players who can play defense. We're professionals. We see the revolving door all the time, but I do think we're better than before, in every way. Defensively, we can count on those guys all the time. I think we're better." -- Johnny Damon in the Boston Herald after trading Nomar
Sox Make Hay While Bronson Shines
Boston is Motor City as Sox Engine is Humming.
Ortiz Cleans Up Again. Sox Win 4-1
"We're playing great, man. I think the big key is everybody's in the doghouse having fun and playing hard." -- Manny Ramirez
Aug 25, 2004:
Sox Control Towers
Two for 'Tiz
'Manny Ortez' Lets the Ball Fly in SkyDome
How Schweet it is for Schilling, Sox Trounce Toronto 11-5
in 17 hit attack. Manny, David (2), and Cabby go long
"I had the best fastball I had in 3-4 months. Minimal effort tonight, that was big. One of the things I've taken pride in is to be able to make adjustments, which i did tonight... We had a great road trip, we're clicking. We're just going out tomorrow and treating it like the most important game of the season." -- Curt Schilling 16-6
Hail to the Cab: Orlando hitting .429 since August 15, 10-game hitting streak
Hey David, it's not about where you're hitting in the order, or what your batting average is in the middle of a pennant race. Very disappointing Mr. Ortiz. Maybe you need to sit down with Gabe Kapler and Doug Mientkiewicz and get back to focusing on the team concept today.
"Mientkiewicz Would've Had It" Hurt. "Day to Day" kiss of death per Tito.
Schweet 16
Curt gets sweet revenge on Toronto tonight
(Nice look. Can I borrow your A Flock of Seagulls cassette? :-)
Aug 24, 2004:
Fire in the Belli
Sox rally and hang on to win 5-4.
Timlin is back for more. Tito gamble in seventh pays off.
"Mike deserves the win, not me today." -- Tim Wakefield
Ramiro the Hero. That's All Foulke. Save No. 23.
Big Night Outing for Tim
You just can't go wrong with that picture.
Wake simply looks great in that black shirt.
Aug 23, 2004:
Lincoln Falls to Thousand Oaks 3-1
Tek Will Serve Four-Game Suspension Starting Tonight
"...not all players can play in Boston. It takes a certain make-up to be successful here. If a player is not a "gamer" or a "dirt dog" it will be difficult to fit in into this city. The fans here want players who grind it out in the good and the bad times."
-- Jason Varitek mailbag on The Remy Report
Manny's in the Driver's Seat
"Boston is the best city ever," he says. "The fans are great. They love me. Oh my God. You go out to eat, they don't let you pay for nothing. You win it there and people will go nuts. I'm going to party for a month."
See Tuesday's Boston Globe as Stan Grossfeld follows Manny as he picks the color on his Dad's new wheels at "Rad Rides by Troy," in the village of Manteno, 53 miles south of Chicago. Ramirez went here on a Sox day off to select a color for a 1967 Lincoln Continental convertible he purchased and is having totally restored for his Dad's birthday. Kevin Millar remains pissed that they chose to stop at Mickey D's over the chicken stompin' KFC he represents.
McManny is Lovin' It
Sox Wilt for Lilly
Sleepy Sox Shutout 3-0, 13 Ks
and only three hits
More...
Aug 21, 2004:
Here Come the Red Sox
High-Tek Resurgence Continues
More...
Aug 20, 2004:
Aug 19, 2004:
Morons Stuck
Brass Tacks on Smart Policy: The Boston Red Sox have finally come to their senses and recently formally instituted a new policy that bans all t-shirts that feature the 1990's paranoid inferiority complex phrase "Yankees Suck" (which does more to promote the team from New York and does nothing to support Boston) and/or related anti-Yankees slogans from Fenway Park. Ticket holders wearing the embarassing shirts are now asked to turn the low-rent vulgar t's inside out or change them before entering the gates at Fenway. Point: Lucchino. No decision has been made regarding the banning of any shirts that have the word "Curse" printed on them, which of course promotes some sort of curse no matter what it says in front of the "C" word. Read Hench's Yankees Suck? No Such Luck.
"It makes us look, as a community, like idiots." -- Bill Burt, WEEI's The Big Show on the YS shirt wearing fandom
"Maybe they finally realized that after 86 years of winning nothing and countless wild cards later that THEY are in fact the team that sucks and not the Yankees?" -- Dooley Womack, nyyfans.com
"I've stated many times that there is ZERO hatred on the field between these two teams (Red Sox-Yankees), for the most part, zero. Probably as much respect as anything... The hatred part is in the stands and in the media, they need that sorta stuff for material, and they make it into their own little story often times. What they don't make up, fans seem to give them willingly." -- Curt Schilling
CLEMENS WINDOW CLOSED
Bob Lobel reports on UPN-38 that the window for the Red Sox obtaining Roger Clemens is now shut.
Sox had 48 hours to seal the deal.
Sox Would Not Give Up Youk
Roger Clemens: "It's not a big deal. It's not going to happen anyway. They just did it to block me from going to the Yankees."
(Sorry Roger but it wasn't about the Yankees, the Red Sox wanted to bring you back to Boston)
SOX FUELING
ROCKET RETURN
Roger That.
Think Responsibly?
More Bud for Werner and Company
Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig's term as baseball commissioner was extended for three years through 2009 in a unanimous vote by owners today.
Theo reveals that Pokey's injury put Cabrera in the Nomar trade mix. Listen to Theo pinch hit for Larry Lucchino on WEEI's Dennis & Callahan.
More...
Aug 18, 2004:
Oh Baby! Wake Up for a
Good Night's Sweep
And a Night on the Town
Wake Great for Eight
Millar, Mueller Timely in 6-4 Win
Sox jump on top early, hang on late
Snyder remarks after Fenway stand
Sveum
Sveum
Waving, keep my whole body shaking
You got me so confused it's a Sveum
Sometimes I think I'm going insane
Still I want you to stay
(Wavin' your arms that's what I want to see)
What I want to see (Want to see)
(Wavin' your arms that's my high)
High
Sveum
Ooh my mamma says you ain't got a brain
And what you do at third is a Sveum
Ooh wouldn't wanna live without pain
Mamma just don't understand
(Wavin' your arms that's what I want to see)
What I want to see
(Want to see)
(Wavin' your arms that's my high)
High
I can't get enough
(Ooh) Ooh baby enough of that magic touch
Thrown out from the start, tearing the rules apart
So why should Dale be ashamed?
Sveum
Only wins can beat the pain
And if we lose this game it's a Sveum
Ooh I wouldn't want to live without pain
Send 'em in forever
(If we lose this game it's a Sveum)
Oh no
(If we lose this game it's a Sveum)
(Never gonna find home again no) no (no) no (no) no
I can't get enough
Ooh baby enough of that magic touch
Thrown out from the start, tearing the rules apart
Ooh it's a ooh
(Sveum)
Send 'em in forever
(Sveum)
Only wins can beat the pain
No no no
(Sveum)
Mamma says you ain't got a brain
Mamma just don't understand
(Sveum)
What you do to me is a Sveum!
Francona Talks about the Fun and Games
Tito Not So Testy without Neumy on Weekly Call to Dale and Felger
Schilling eats Sheppard Pie for Lunch Again on The Big Show
('EEI audio coming soon for another episode of "Curt in the Car" -- bad link/file in Audio Vault)
Aug 17, 2004:
Little Prince of the City
Let's Go Crazy
25 GUYS, ONE CAB
CAB DRIVER TAKES TEAM HOME
More...
What Would Bill Say?
If Bill Belichick Were the Manager of the Red Sox, Here's What He Would Have Said After Last Night's 8-4 Win Over Toronto:
"I thought this was a game that was kind of sloppy," Belichick said. "We had trouble with a lot of things. We've got a lot of work to do. We struggled in the running game again. We really didn't do a good job defensively with the shortstop [Orlando Cabrera], gave up some easy running yardage, struggled on the ball handling, stuff like that. But we made a few plays, made a few scramble plays with Mientkiewicz in there, got a couple of third down stops finally in that eighth inning with Foulke giving us something meaningful, and we were able to put a few points on the board late. But I think, overall, we've got a long way to go in every phase of the game.
"We've got guys who love to stand at home plate and watch their singles, doubles, and fly outs. We've got guys who don't know to take the extra base, they can't round third properly and they're slow as fog. I've got a third base coach whose judgment is impaired night in, night out. That's costing us runs we can't afford. Maybe we need to actually spend some time on the fundamentals of the game during the season. Shouldn't have to at this level, but you'd never know we worked on this stuff in the spring if you're watching the same games I'm watching..."
More...
Aug 16, 2004:
The Sloppy Hose
Bad News Cabreras Play Without a Care,
They Don't Know Where to Run or Throw, but Still Slip Past Toronto 8-4
A High Impact Outing for D-Lowe and Once-a-Week Keith,
Millar and Cab Drove in Two Runs Each
Gammons Says Sox Need a Leader
From Monday's chat on ESPN.com: David (Plattsburgh, NY): "How much blame do you place on Terry Francona for the Sox being a .500 team and will he be fired after the season?"
Peter Gammons:"I think Terry has gotten much too much of the blame for the Red Sox problems. They are no where near as good an offensive team as they were last year, essentially, playing without Trot Nixon, who was 5th in the league in OPS last year, and of course, Nomar. Tim Wakefield and Derek Lowe have been inconsistant and the Sox middle relief is below average. The problem with the Red Sox is not as much the manager as it is that they DO NOT have a star player who accepts the accountability for his team's success. They need to either become Jason VAritek's team or go out and spend money to sign a Tejada-type player who can lead them out of their nonchalant style."
"Of course I'm cynical and I've heard all the whispers, but regardless of how Nomar got his body to where it is now, it just isn't a body that makes a very reliable shortstop."
"As he struggled down the stretch in '03 — while the rest of the team was "cowboying up" — it was as if the fissures in Nomar's fragile psyche were splitting open for all to see. He would take silent oh-fers where he failed to hit the ball out of the infield. Some in the Boston press pointed out how Nomar always seemed to struggle when his then-fiancee Mia Hamm was in a given road city..."
-- Hench bids farewell to Nomar
More...
Aug 15, 2004:
Soggy Bottom Boys
I am a Fan of Constant Sorrow
I am a fan of constant sorrow
I've seen trouble all my days
I bid farewell to the ol' Division
Second place I was born and raised.
Second place he was born and raised
Eighty-six years I've been in trouble,
no pleasure here in Boston I've found
For with this team, I'm bound to tumble,
No more Nomar to help them now.
No more Nomar to help them now
It's fare thee well, my old true shortstop,
I never expect to see you again.
For I'm bound to ride that Red Sox Railroad,
perhaps I'll die upon this train.
Perhaps he'll die upon this train
The Winless City
Boston All Wet Against Chicago
Carlos Lobo: More Lee Fits as Timlin Lets One Out Again
Lee Spike Off Mike Silences Fenway in 8th
Is This Bad Bullpen Management or Bad Bullpen Staffing?
Cab Clutch Bad
Orlando a deer in the headlights
The OC cancels final comeback episode in 9th and with bases loaded
Arroyo-yo: Sox Fall Behind for Good After New Guys Lead Comeback
Team Can't Overcome Red Shirts (sigh) and White Sox, Lose 5-4
More of the Sveum: Youkilis Hurt in Home Plate Collision
(Youk has lower right leg contusion, x-rays negative, day-to-day)
Dave Roberts Looks Like Dave Winfield... Striking Out
Aug 14, 2004:
Two for 'Tiz
David Gets Back to Being Goliath. Schilling Too.
"I've been fighting myself for a while now. I am human. You can put yourself in a rut sometimes without actually needing to be in one or deserving to be in one, and I have been so inconsistent and frustrated with a lot of different things, and fighting that on a daily basis." -- Never satisfied (good) Curt Schilling
Big Curt bounces back after early bombs, and
Good Sox win a one-run game for a change 4-3
Long ball puts White Sox on the short end of the stick
Schilling Walks the Walk Tonight
And Talks About it Later
Aug 13, 2004:
Aug 12, 2004:
Millar, Francona, and Schilling in Stereo
The Kevin Millar Backtrack Backroad Tour on FSN NEST with Greg Dickerson, on NESN post game, and here on WEEI with Dale & Neumy 8.12.04: "The big thing was it wasn't about Francona (his outburst about Francona's lineup), I just basically you know I apologized to him because it shouldn't have got to the media, I got caught with my pants down for a couple of minutes but you know I was frustrated. And sometimes, you know what, it's good for a team, you know I'm not stupid. I wouldn't have gone to the media the way I did but there's also some stuff that we need a little spark and uh you know I mean Francona's been unbelievable and he's our commander and I'd never challenge him and I felt bad for the... it looked as if I was challenging Terry Francona and that wasn't it at all, it was just "hey, let's get something rollin' here, and let's get this team going, and sometimes someone's got to step on a landmine, and that was me... He's been unbelievable, Terry Francona has like I said earlier in the year, he had more confidence in me than I did. You run through those times. And this guy stood behind me, he's the last guy that I'd ever try to hurt, and that's where I felt terrible the next day, because it came out that way, obviously, then you've got all the opinions on the radio shows and the papers, and the true story was, that wasn't the case. I was just frustrated, I checked the lineup. I expected to play that day because I was told one thing, but hey, that happens. I should have just walked away like I said and went down in the dugout, but you know those things happen, you make a mistake, it came out that way, and obviously Francona and I looked like we were in a little spat, but I came in that next day and apologized, we had a great conversation, and everything was great, we cleared it up, and let's get on a roll now."... on FSN NEST: "I'm gonna pop off (this week), I'll talk to John (Henry), I'll give him a call, we'll have some coffee :-)"
8.12.04: Listen to Terry Francona's call into WEEI's Dale & Neumy
(more Tito vs. Neumy cat-and-mouse antics)
"...and this has been a team, definitely not as likeable as the team from last year"
8.12.04: Curt Schilling on WROR with Loren, Wally, and Sue.
Loren or Wally: ...you're over it now... (Monday's loss)...
Curt Schilling: You know it's... you wear 'em. I carry those with me a lot longer than I carry the wins. Oh absolutely.
More...
COMPLETE PETE
Turns Up the Heat
More...
Aug 10, 2004:
Aug 9, 2004:
Deep Six Can't Sink Sox
After Costing Sox Games, Some Ortiz Payback
Wake Survives Six Detroit Bombs, Avoids Funeral, Gets Win,
Low-Cal Ripken Out Sick (Not Pharyngitis) Again
Flu-like Fielder Stays on Bench but Youk is Served as Offense Outlasts Tiger Attack 11-9
Comfortably Dumb
Kentucky Fried Should Wear Dunce Cap Tonight
Lou Piñata Loses Respect of Nation for Good
Insert Post-Meeting Backpeddle Here: "I wanted to apologize to Terry. I didn't want this to turn out where he's the bad guy... I'm not challenging Terry Francona as manager... he's always been loyal to me (and then some wouldn't you say?)... but this isn't a situation that's going to last. We turn the page... and we go on. That's basically it." -- Kevin "Don't Come to Fenway No More Then, Media That Don't Pay Me are "Riff-Raff," Now Go Buy Some Ice Cream and Fried Chicken" Millar
Francoma Flips Out and Lays Down the Law with Millar: "I'm not sure the way he handled it is the way I would have wanted him to handle it."
(Yankee fans, front office types, players, and especially Big Stein are simply laughing their asses off at this laughing-stock of a team right now.)
Mow Town
Pedro Tames Tigers
Ace of Diamonds Gets 11 Ks, ERA Drops to 3.94
Millar Goes Too Far,
Cowboy Upsets the Applecart
Texas Con Man Rips Terry Cloth
Millar Throws Manager Under a Freight Train: "This isn't me being selfish. It's when my teammates come up to me and go, 'What's going on?' (note: KFK's been in the lineup for two weeks) They want me in the lineup. It's a team, it's a family (says Mr. Name on the Front of the Uniform blah, blah). I'm not going to be lied to. I'm not going to be lack-of-communicated to. I wasn't told I was on the bench. I didn't know that was the situation. I didn't know they traded for [Mientkiewicz] to be the everyday first baseman... No one knows where they're hitting. No one knows where they're playing. No one knows what's going on. That's the whole thing." -- Kevin "Don't Come to Fenway No More Then, Media That Don't Pay Me are "Riff-Raff," Now Go Buy Some Ice Cream and Fried Chicken" Millar
Iron Manny Sits Out, IMeMyMillar Penciled In,
Roberts Leads Eight Hit Attack in 7-4 Win
(But Dave Roberts will have to be Dave Winfield the rest of the way for the trade to work out for Sox as Nomar is getting three hits a night for Cubs)
Aug 6, 2004:
Breaking News: The Arizona Diamondback's Partnership is expected to fire newly appointed superagent Jeff Moorad tomorrow for re-signing Diamondback 1B Shea Hillenbrand to an eight-year $83 millon contract in his first act as CEO of the fallen franchise. -- Edes Mailbag: Nobody knows Nomah, can't call Sox liars
PANIC IN DETROIT
MOTOR CITY LOWEDOWN
Yes Dearborn Derek, Sox Hit Detroit Breakdown Lane
More of the Sveum
Ugueth It... Tigers Tame Road Hogs 4-3
Orlando Cabrera 1-for-his-last-17
Wasn't it Great When Ortiz Threw Those Bats?
Hench Mini-rant 8.6.04: "If the Red Sox were a football team we'd be calling them "gutless." They can't stop anyone on third and one, can't win a close game, can't convert 10 hits and three walks in 5+ innings off Maroth into more than three runs. Cabrera should not be hitting third, obviously. He's lost. What was that hit-and-run in the first? Why do we still try it? We must be 1 for 20 on the year."
Francona on the SoSHot Seat 8.7.04: "You generally don't like to see the manager make as many as one idiotic, indefensible lineup decision. But three or four?
1) You just cannot play Bill Mueller at 2B with Derek Lowe on the mound. Period. With Lowe on the mound, the defensive difference has to approach 0.5 runs per game. If you have zero confidence in Ricky Gutierrez, tell the GM that and have him get you somebody who can at least field the position. The offensive edge of Youkilis vs. Gutierrez is dwarfed by the defensive difference at 2B with Lowe pitching." -- Eric Van on Tito, on SoSH
Did You Know? Your Boston Red Sox went 51-30 (.630 winning percentage) on the road in 2002. They talked about being away from the pressure of Fenway then, being able to relax on the road. Can we get that feeling back please?
They're Back
Sox Catch Mike Myers
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Yoko Ono |
Mia
Hamm |
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COINCIDENCE?
The
both have 7 letters in their name
and they both broke up the band
Twist the Truth and Shout -- Drive My Star -- Shove Me Do Yesterday
-- Normargian Would (This Bird Has Flown) -- Ballad of John (Henry)
and Nomar
HAMMING IT UP:
MIA PLAYS NOMAR SHRINK, TOSSES SOX CAPS
"To listen to her teammates tell the tale, Hamm even has been acting as a corporate and motivational psychologist for the sensitive Garciaparra, counseling him that the move to Chicago is just part of the business..."
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Aug 5, 2004:
SOCCER BOMB
Update: Players Not Brass Sold Out Secret Soccer Story
Hamm, and Egg on Nomar's Face
Former Sox SS Hurt His Heel Playing Soccer
Garcialiar Told Generations of Nation Tall Tales About Mystery Foot/Ball Injury
Garcialiar gives up on defending his fraudulent faux pas: "I've heard so much made up about me, I don't even want to comment... I've addressed all those things (yeah right, read his one nervous, stumbling, bumbling 'address' of how he hurt his Achilles with Steve Burton below. Sounds confident. Story makes a lot of sense) ...I'm here now, and that's all I'm focused on." (can't say I blame him since his lies are getting exposed by the hour in Boston)
Late May 2004: CBS4's Steve Burton interviews Nomar Garciaparra and asks how the shortstop got hurt...
Garciaparra: "I didn't even tell my trainers anything, I was like you...(Burton: "You didn't even tell anybody...) not, not, not when it initially happened, not when it first... (SB: But was it a practice ball that hit you?) I just, ahh during BP, you know balls, you know flying around, walking off and I just got hit, I didn't think much of it and I was like alright, bruise, whatever, you know numerous bruises all (laughing) over my body at the time (SB: Put ice on it) yeah exactly and it was, and it was something I was like 'ahh, just go play, just go play,' yeah it's something there, you work through and I went three four days working through it, wasn't getting any better, one thing you know I don't know what's gonna you know how or whatever but I'll definitely be going out to give it 100%, that's for sure."
DAS BOOT: The Net-Net is Nomar Kicked His Team in Teeth Again
In other news, D-Lowe sees going away party for Garciaparra, starts to imagine his own,
decides to stay in Boston telling Boras "just sign the last goddamn offer right now!!"
GUILT TRIP FOR GARCIALIAR: Baseball Gods Strike Back:
Nomore Goes 0-5 Room .222 for Improvement with BA
Gammo Says Dirt Dogs All Over Nomar Trade
"Boston Dirt Dogs was very close to the truth on the Garciaparra injury diagnosis, they do such a good job over there."
Gammons on Garciaparra: "I read the transcript of Schilling's interview, where he said 'this is a no-brainer,' and I agree. Curt couched it politically, and was very careful in what he said, but he said 'you want 30 or 40 games from Nomar Garciaparra the rest of the season or do you want 60 games of Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mientkiewicz, and if Schilling said that, and believe me, Schilling voiced what his teammates believe." -- 8.05.04 ESPN's Peter Gammons on WEEI's The Big Show
WHY NATION WON'T LET IT GO
Where Good Is Not Enough
8.5.04: I had the good fortune today to have a conversation with the director of an Olympic development school educational program. She organizes the athletic and educational programs for several hundred young Americans who compete in gymnastics and figure skating. Some head for Athens and the Olympics. She smiled with pride talking of Olympic champions whose development she had overseen, helping to mold their athletic skill globally with dance, weight, and sport-specific training, and educating them in the three R’s as well as the difficult world of media relations.
We agreed that while you can make an athlete play, you cannot make her care, that is, passion for the game comes from within.
The primary metric of a baseball player, individual achievement, cannot via force of personality create a championship quality team. If it were so, then Carl Yastrzemski’s 1967 Red Sox would have beaten the collectively superior St. Louis Cardinals. Red Sox fans can recite the litany of batting title winners, from Runnels, to Yaz, Lynn, Lansford, Boggs, Garciaparra, Ramirez, and Mueller. Others remind us that 'statistics are for losers.'
For most of his Red Sox tenure, Nomar Garciaparra played as hard as a baseball player can. He will someday likely arrive on the podium in Cooperstown, speaking of the pride and professionalism with which he approached his career. Many great players never win a batting title or win a World Series. No championships graced the Nomar Garciaparra era here, just as none have reappeared in four score and five years.
Still, things changed for the Red Sox shortstop. He missed most of the 2002 season with a serious wrist injury. His overall power, speed, and defense, although superior to the days of the Luis Rivera, Spike Owen, Mike Lansing, and John Valentin, diminished. For reasons unknown, he struggled during the stretch run and playoffs, especially the American League Championship Series in 2003. The first pitch swings, formerly line drives, became popups or just flails.
Call it 'counteroffering' if you want, but Garciaparra rejected the Red Sox monster offer of four years and sixty million dollars. Whether ownership hurt him irreparably with the failed A-Rod trade, or whether he simply tired of being asked to be something he was not (a private man asked to be the public face of the second greatest franchise in baseball) he wanted a change of scenery.
The African proverb says 'it takes a village to raise a child, but a child can destroy the village.' The achievements of the Oakland Athletics of the early 1970s and the 1978 Yankees remind us that a baseball team doesn’t have to be Pleasantville to win. However, Dave Cowens’ admonition that "nothing great is ever accomplished without enthusiasm" also rings true.
Players and ownership always tell us that "it isn’t about the money." Players don’t earn fifteen million dollars in Kansas City, Minnesota, or Timbuktu, not because money isn’t there. The same passion doesn’t exist. Green Bay is the city of millionaires, but not the Baseball Hub. In a country where poverty, homelessness, and medical disenfranchisement still exist, baseball megastars have relatively few locales demanding both excellence and winning, with ownership willing to satisfy their vainglorious quest. From a baseball standpoint, the dollars follow the passion.
Our six-year old nieces and nephews cry after the departure of their idol. Maybe it happens in Minnesota when the Mientkiewiczs, Reardons, and Aguileras move on. Maybe small fry in Dallas mourn the loss of the Siamese basketball twins, Antoine Walker and Tony Delk. I doubt it. Whether Bostonians want to believe it or not, Nomar Garciaparra wanted out of his failed marriage with the Red Sox. We should wish him and his family well. He deserves no less. He too should understand that his candle here had burned down. The Red Sox lost Nomar’s desire not to play, but to care. There is no crying in baseball. Good is not enough in Athens or Baseball’s Athens.
-- Ron S.
OCD and OBP
Hench's Hardball Redux -- 5.3.03: Does anyone remember the old Nomar?
The bigger the situation, the harder he'd hit the ball. Everything was a rope. Or a bomb. Remember those two playoff series against the Indians? Or the ALCS against the Yankees? In 54 postseason plate appearances he has an impossible 1.399 OPS with a .383 BA, .463 OBP and a .936 slugging percentage. These numbers just don't happen in October.
During his back-to-back batting title seasons of 1999 and 2000 I'm sure Nomar popped weakly to the right side on a pitch out of the strike zone a couple of times. I just can't remember it. Now it seems to happen every time he comes to the plate with a runner in scoring position.
What changed?
Can it all be traced to Sept. 25, 1999 when Baltimore's Al Reyes dotted Nomar on the longitudinal tendon? Nomar played the entire 2000 season with the tendon fraying, hit .372 and, most encouragingly, drew a career high 61 walks. But then the dam burst, the tendon split and all the progress he had made in raising his OBP from .345 his rookie year to .439 in year four was seemingly wiped away. When he came back, he was jumping at the ball, swinging at everything and resolutely refusing to draw a walk as he posted a .352 OBP in 21 games.
But 21 post-surgery games was hardly a fair sample to gauge just how much Nomar had regressed in his hitting approach. So we all waited with bated breath for 2002. He had almost 700 plate appearances last year and walked 41 times, repeating the .352 OBP he had put up in his abbreviated 2001 season. The strength certainly seemed to have returned to his wrist as he piled up 85 extra-base hits, including 24 home runs. But the modicum of patience he was slowly starting to develop over his first four seasons was gone.
Compounding the OBP problem, Nomar was no longer killing first pitches. Why?
Gooooooooal! CBS-4's Bob Lobel Reports That Former
Red Sox Shortstop Nomar Garciaparra Hurt His Achilles Heel Playing Soccer Prior to Coming to Spring Training
"You (Ted Wayman) and I talked about that off the air, I'm not going to report on who he was playing soccer with, because I don't know that. I'm not going to say that." -- Bob Lobel on CBS-4 News/Sports
"At some point, don't be surprised if the Red Sox take legal recourse over this." -- Michael Felger on FSN NE Sports Tonight
Is No more, Nomar, No Mas
a Cause for Celebration?
Or is This the True Cause of Nation Frustration?
The Grim Reality: Sox 10-1/2 Games Behind
New York Yankees and the AL HR Leader.
The 32% Speaks: We were told he had to go.
8.7.04: "We were told that he no longer cared about the Red Sox, and was polluting the clubhouse. We were told he was going to miss 25-30 games after he expressed his desire to rest a couple times during a six-game turf trip in Minnesota and Tampa Bay.
On Friday night, the Red Sox sent out Orlando Cabrera batting third, and Doug Mientkiewicz batting seventh vs. former 21-game loser Mike Maroth and the Detroit Tigers. Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs sent out Nomar Garciaparra batting second vs. Cy Young favorite Jason Schmidt and the San Francisco Giants.
Cabrera and Mientkiewicz combined to go 0-9 with no walks, the only two members of the Red Sox lineup not to reach base. The Red Sox left 19 men on base en route to a 4-3 loss, and almost half of them -- 9 -- were stranded by Cabrera and Mientkiewicz. Meanwhile, Garciaparra had three hits against Schmidt, including two doubles, and finished 3-4 with a walk. Though the still took their first defeat with Nomar, he showed that it takes special talent to hit special pitching.
For the "No More Nomar" crowd, the rest of this season is a win-win. If Nomar plays poorly in comparison to Cabrera, the trade justifies itself. If, however, Nomar's production continues to dwarf Cabrera's as it has for seven years, the No More Nomars will simply say that Garcialiar would have dogged it for the Sox, had to go, and was only motivated to perform by their trade of him. Sounds like Dan Duquette to me.
The truth is that Nomar Garciaparra loved the fans of Boston a lot more than he loved the management and media, but those two have joined forces to influence the shaken Nation against their former star, who this season was the same lonely soldier he had always been, with less romanticizing and more villifying of his quirky ways.
This weekend in San Francisco, Nomar will take a day off to rest his Achilles. If we're lucky, so will Cabrera."
Mike Mitchell
Branford, CT
Lobel Blows the Cover off Nomargate at 6:20pm on CBS-4
SPEED KILLS
Roberts Was Out By a Mile with No Outs
Sveum old song and dance my friends. Lou Piñata and Send 'Em in Sveum show us again why you can't get wild about the Sox chances in the post season. Sending Dave Roberts with no outs in the ninth is unforgivable.
Tito amazingly has absolutely no idea whatsoever how to use a pitching staff. It's shocking really as he goes with Arroyo when Bronson was done and the bases jacked in the critical seventh inning while Bronson shakes off Tek and serves up game-winning softball.
Another Worst Loss of the Year, 5-4
Fans are asking about Grady Little. Seriously. That's all you need to know.
"Baldelli hasn't made a whole lot of good throws," said Sveum, who might not have known Baldelli led the league in outfield assists last year (14) and has six this season. "Obviously he pulled one off tonight. They made a great play. To be honest with you, if we did it the same tomorrow night I'd do the same thing. It's obviously a situation where you got that kind of speed on the bases and you got a closer [in the game]."...
..."He made a mistake at a tough time to make a mistake," Francona said. "He pitched so well. Obviously I thought he pitched well for him to be in that situation." -- Heuschkel, Hartford Courant
8.5.04: Hench Mini Rant -- "I don't have the time, will or emotional constitution to write yet another column on the idiot manning the third base coaching box for the Red Sox. I trust that the Big Dog will link you to my last offering on this subject (Sveum Old Song and Dance).
"I truly can't believe that this guy may cost us a playoff spot. Before a team hires a third base coach, do they break down film on him? Does anyone check to see if he understands the fundamentals of the job?
"I have a simple rule: If you're trailing and there is nobody out, that runner has got to be able to score standing up. Now, we all know Dave Roberts was obliterated by 20 feet and that Maurice Green would have been out too, so what gives? There is only one answer: Dale Sveum does not know what he's doing. There is an 80-90 percent chance that you score that runner from third with nobody out and with Baldelli in center there was a considerably higher possibility that Roberts would be thrown out at the plate. Sveum has proven over the course of this season that he is incapable of making this calculation. It also would seem that he does not prepare himself prior to a pitch for the decision that may be suddenly upon him. How many outs? Who's on deck? Which outfielder has the weakest arm? The best? What's the score? It's just unbelievable that on a team whose whole philosophy is built on not making outs on the bases that this incompetent is coaching third."
8.27.02: Hench's Hardball -- "If your projection of the unfolding play indicates that a slide might be necessary, hold the runner at third and hope that one of the next three hitters can drive him in. If you send a runner in the belief that he will score standing up or without even drawing a throw and he is thrown out by 20 feet, then you, sir, are decidedly unqualified to coach third base. At any level."
Dirt Dog Hits Pay Dirt
Mientkiewicz Maneuvers Around Tag
Aug 4, 2004:
Schill Airs it Out on the Air
August 5, 2004: Curt Schilling on 105.7-FM WROR: Loren or Wally (who the hell knows) "In all of this it seems like the fans overwhelmingly are backing the management* on this whole thing here?"
Curt Schilling: "I'm not sure, when it's all said and done, how you can't. I mean when you look at what's happened, what was said, and what was done... he was leaving. He was leaving at the end of the year and I think that people need to really focus on that. He was leaving and I don't know the details. The other thing was it was very evident that he was going to need some time off in the next couple of weeks to be able to play in September. So you had Nomar for 35-40 more games, Pokey Reese or Rickey Gutierrez filling in, and then he was a free agent. Theo was up against the wall and Nomar even stated a couple of different times, I read a response to a couple of questions that people were bringing up to him about coming back late and tanking it and all that other crap that people were trying to accuse him of and he said 'listen, why would I want to sit out and not play when I was going into free agency.' So he's basically saying he was going to be a free agent. So it's very clear and very evident. I'm not shocked people are stunned. I'm not shocked that people are emotional on both sides of the fence because of where we're playing, but if you're rational about this, this guy was going to be a free agent, didn't want to come back, and the team made a move to do the best that they could without letting him walk for nothing."
*(In a Boston Globe SportsPlus poll of over 21,000 Red Sox fans surveyed, 68% said they believed Larry Lucchino's account of Nomar Garciaparra's departure while 32% said they believed the shortstop's version of the events).
More...
Garcialiar Hurt Heel on His Own Time
Sources Tell Boston Globe Nomore Did Not Injure Himself with Batted Ball in March as Was Reported
CBS4's Bob Lobel reported last night today's Boston Globe story by Bob Hohler that Nomar Garciaparra injured his Achilles' heel prior to reporting to spring training for the Boston Red Sox according to sources.
The Red Sox did not make that report public, initially stating on March 6, 2004 that Nomar Garciaparra was "day to day" regarding his return from the Achilles problem the shortstop suffered.
This revelation is not surprising in this space as no one ever confirmed if Garciaparra's heel was injured before, during, or after the Northeastern or Boston College games on Friday, March 5 or before or during batting practice sometime prior to the game against the Yankees in Ft. Myers on Sunday, March 7, a game Garciaparra was forced to sit out due to the injury.
It never made any sense that Garciaparra could have been hit in the back of the foot with a batted ball causing the injury as he would have had to have his back to a batter while standing in the infield during live batting practice, which is obviously forbidden, foolish, and extremely dangerous.
8.5.04: CAPTAIN QUEEG? Gammons jumps in on Nomar Pile on 'EEI revealing that Garciaparra resentment reached new levels when Nomar accused Fenway grounds crew them of leave clumps of dirt and pebbles in the shortstop position area just to cause him to make errors and make him look bad. (Just another day in the life of Pain Man... what time is Judge Wapner on in Chicago Nomie?)
More...
Garcialiar!
Angry John Henry Reveals Nomar Lied About Calls, Contract, Correnti Conversation
"Henry said he was in accordance with the club's assertion, after Garciaparra met with team trainers and manager Terry Francona last Wednesday in Baltimore, that the shortstop had indicated he could miss a significant amount of playing time this month because of his injury. That left the club little choice, Henry said, but to make a deal for another shortstop.
More...
Aug 3, 2004:
On Proud Nine
Schilling Has a Change-Up of Heart
and Goes the Whole Nine Yards.
Defense Makes a Difference. New Guys Bring Better Living Through Chemistry,
Schill Will Get the Win 5-2
Free Agent Tek Goes Yard. M&M&M's Mueller, Millar, Mientkiewicz Swing Away.
NOMAR NEWS WATCH: Turn on WGN to See Garciaparra Sprint Up the Line
in Colorado Like Carl Lewis on Fire. He's Hurting My Ass.
Sox-Nomar PR Teams Working Overtime: Boston Brass: "Let's Move On." Nomar Nonsense: "Just Being Sarcastic" (Hey, stop working our side of the street Nomie)
"We feel real good about this team. The energy seems to be back in the team. We're happy with the situation we're at right now." -- Johnny Damon
"Defensively, we're better. That's a big thing. That's not a stat. It's hard to quantify what it means in wins and losses. But as a pitcher it's a big difference. I've watched Orlando play for a couple years in the National League and I know Dave too. We're definitely a better defensive club." -- Curt Schilling
More...
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CURT'S CORNER |
Boston Dirt Dogs Exclusive |
Ace Chimes in on
the Nomar Madness
"Theo had to decide if 30-40 games of Nomar at SS, with another 20-30 games of Pokey/Ricky at SS was better than 50-60 games of Orlando Cabrera at SS. Look, Orlando Cabrera is not a .250 hitter, he's a legitimate gold glove winner and in my opinion his career numbers are a lot closer to the real player than the numbers he had put up this year."
Boston Dirt
Dogs: Curt, an email came in from
a lifelong Sox fan after yesterday's trade that
started like this:
"I picked up my
daughter at a birthday party yesterday
around 5 pm and told one of the parents
there that Nomar was traded to the Cubs. A
little boy with a Red Sox hat overheard me
and started crying and had to be taken
away..."
What do you say to
all the little Nomah-5 shirt wearing fans out
there, and the people who thought Nomar was the
next Ted Williams, and would spend his entire career
here?
Curt Schilling: You tell
them the truth I think. Listen, no one died
here, I am certain though, being a new guy in
these parts, that some people feel like someone
did actually die. This is a sport, big business,
not life and death. Trades happen, and this one
was obviously larger and had much more impact
given the team and the fans and the player and
all the combined history.
It was no mystery
that Nomar wasn't going to re-sign here, I
continue to be amazed at the amount of dancing
around this actual fact by everyone. Given that
he wasn't going to be coming back, the GM of
this team had a very significant decision to
make on whether 30-40 games with him, and then
the eventual compensation draft choice, were
worth not trading him.
Theo had to decide
if 30-40 games of Nomar at SS, with another
20-30 games of Pokey/Ricky at SS was better than
50-60 games of Orlando Cabrera at SS. Look,
Orlando Cabrera is not a .250 hitter, he's a
legitimate gold glove winner and in my opinion his career
numbers are a lot closer to the real player than
the numbers he had put up this year. From what I
have read, he was also one of the potential
replacements to be pursued this winter when
Nomar left.
Regardless of all
the "he said she said" going back and forth now,
the facts have been pretty plain and very
obvious since I got here. Nomar was not
re-signing here, he was going to be a free agent,
rather than let him walk for the pick our GM
decided to try and improve the one area this
team has a gaping weakness in, and did. As far
as losing his offense I look at it this way. We
spent the first 1/3 of the season without him,
and we played well, we were also missing Trot,
like now, they are both not in our lineup, we
found a way to win then, and we can do so now,
we have to.
Would our offense be
better with BOTH of them in it? Sure would, but
you can't have everything you want, you have to
take what's given to you and make it work, and I
think we will.
So I guess the short
answer is to tell them to appreciate what
they got a chance to see, and remember it. Tell
them that Nomar is a ballplayer, not a fireman
or a police officer or a doctor, those people
are the ones she needs to look up to and
respect, along with her parents. Ballplayers are
there to perform and be cheered, booed and
jeered, to entertain fans with their god given
ability, and to perform at a level no one else
can. Then, at the end of the day, we go home and
do the same things you all do.
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More...
Aug 2, 2004:
38th Special
Birthday Oh Boy! Tim Wakes Up Sox
with 2,000 Innings Spectacular.
McCarty Parks a 3-Run Drive Bye. Youk Comes Through.
Sox Don't Flop in the Trop, Win 6-3
Embree Gets Right Against Lefties, Foulke Gets in Game.
Laughing Hyenas Pedro and Manny Having a Great Time on the Bench While Teammates are Mad as Hell About Blowing the Division
SHOCKER: Lou Piñata Outmanages Lou Pinella
BREAKING NEWS (LITERALLY):
BELLHORN HAS A BROKEN THUMB, HEADED TO DL Mueller to play second. Dave Roberts joins club.
Aug 1, 2004:
You Can Handle the Truth!
Dirt Dog: You want
answers? 
Fanboy: I think I'm entitled to them.
Dirt Dog: You want answers?
Fanboy: I want the truth!
Dirt Dog: You can't handle the truth!
Son, we live in a Nation
that has thin walls. And those walls have to be guarded by men with big
mouths. Who's gonna say it? You? You, Mr. Nomah's Better? I have a
greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom.
You weep for Nomie
and you curse the Media. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of
not knowing what I know: that Nomar's death in Boston, while tragic,
probably saved the team.
And my existence, while grotesque and
incomprehensible to you, saves players...You don't want the truth.
Because deep down, in places you don't talk about at parties, you want
me on that website. You need me on that website.
We use words like honor, code, loyalty...we use these words as the
backbone to a life spent banging on this keyboard. You use 'em as a SoSH
signature line.
I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain
myself to a fan who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very truth
I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it! I'd rather
you just said "thank you" and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you
pick up a ticket in standing room only. Either way, I don't give a damn
what you think you're entitled to! 
Fanboy: Did Nomar break the code Red Sox?
Dirt Dog: (quietly) He said the things we told you he said.
Fanboy:
Did Nomar break the code Red Sox?
Dirt Dog: You're goddamn right he did!!
The Truth from Theo Hurts More Than Nomar's Lies
8.2.04: Red Sox GM Theo Epstein on WEEI with Dennis & Callahan: "The way we were thinking about Nomar is, well, what do we have the next two months? We reached the conclusion, given what we know from prior negotiations that we weren’t going to sign him, that it had stopped being a consideration, we were looking forward to the next two months and said ‘well, what do we have here?’ We have a situation where we’re likely to have Nomar Garciaparra and Ricky Gutierrez playing short and we don’t think that’s going to be enough, we haven’t been playing well, and Nomar’s likely to play less over the next month than he’s played the last month, so what are we trading here?
"In the end it was a straight baseball decision given the rather difficult situation we were in. (John Dennis: Theo, would you have been less likely to make that trade had Nomar told the trainers last Thursday, and by extension you and the rest of the organization that ‘the Achilles is fine, I’m 100%, I don’t think I’ll be taking any days off between now and the end of the baseball season?) Oh absolutely, that was the major impetus for the trade. It made a trade necessary, and difficult. We had to look at it from two standpoints. One, what if we don’t do anything? If we don’t do anything, then it’s Nomar, who says it’s really hurting, says he’s going to need significant time off, perhaps the DL in August, in order to finish the year healthy, so then it’s a significant amount of Ricky Gutierrez at short, and Nomar playing when he can. Or, if we do move him, now all of a sudden we have to tell the team that we’re talking to that this player is telling us that he feels like it’s going to blow out if it keeps playing the field. So, instead of being able to negotiate, we have to keep them that ‘make sure you know what you’re getting here, make sure you know this player’s going on the DL, because the only way we can make a trade with a player who is saying things to us that he was saying, was if we went out of our way to make sure the other team went in with eyes wide open. So not only did the health situation as reported by Nomar to us make it, in our mind, necessary to make a trade, but it made it much more difficult for obvious reasons... if that’s the case (that the Cubs were told that Nomar really wasn’t about to head on the DL) and that’s really what they believe, that’s odd, but, I won’t make any accusations of course, but perhaps they’re in a better position to take that gamble, with their depth in the middle infield, perhaps they can make the gamble a little bit more, I don’t know.
"We do shoulder some blame in what basically became a doomed marriage, but I don't think he handled it very well this year, he wasn't quite the same guy in the clubhouse, he wasn't really a positive force in there. (Gerry: Do you think his unhappiness, his state of mind affected the team?) Umm, Yes... Was it different this year and did his teammates notice that? Yeah, that's probably the reality of this year."
"Let's be honest, there are two months to go, and we're in an absolute dogfight for the wildcard. We're in an absolute dogfight just to get into the post-season... it's going to be an absolute dogfight and this is a year in which just about everything has gone wrong, and we need every single person associated with the organization needs to fight and scrap and find a way to have a really good two months, and not just 30 wins the rest of the way, 'cause that's not going to get it done, but to have a really good two months and salvage this season, and get into the post-season. And once the post-season starts, I really like this team, but we gotta scrap and fight and find a way to get in. That's a large part of what this trade was about, because the safe thing to do, for a lot of people, and the safe thing for the organization, was to probably not make a trade here and just say 'oh well, we're not sure how much we're gonna have Nomar but this team looks good on paper, let's just see how things go the rest of the way,' you know that would have been the safe thing for my career too, but I don't think we could have lived with that, because if we don't do anything and then Nomar goes on the DL and it's 30 games with Nomar the rest of the way, and 30 of Ricky Gutierrez, and we don't get in... I couldn't have lived with that. So instead, we do something that's not ideal (couldn't get the pitching he wanted), but I think we do something that we felt, gives us a better chance to salvage this season in a year where just about everything has gone wrong, including Nomar being largely unavailable the rest of the way."
8.2.04: Listen to Red Sox GM Theo Epstein's call into WEEI's Dennis & Callahan
Gerry Callahan: "Nomar Takes Phony Express Out of Town"
Boston Herald 8.2.04: "I called him in his hotel room just to wish him luck and thank him for all he did for the franchise," Sox CEO Larry Lucchino said last night. "Then I asked him, 'How's the heel?' He said, 'It's great.'" "(I said,) 'Great? How can it be great? Two days ago, you thought you were going to have to go on the DL.' He said, 'Yeah, well, it's great now.'"
Gordon Edes Must be in on the "Conspiracy" Too
Boston Globe 8.2.04: Yesterday, Garciaparra evaded answering questions about those assertions directly. At first, he said he could not respond because he did not know what the team had said. He then said that what was said was between him and the trainers, then emphasized that to date he only had missed a game or two at a time since coming off the DL.
Silverado is Obviously on the Take as Well
Boston Herald 8.2.04: According to club sources, Garciaparra informed the team's medical staff that the continuing discomfort in his Achilles tendon would probably require a stint on the disabled list sometime in the final two months of the season. Sox sources even alleged that Garciaparra said that he wanted to make sure he was healthy at the end of the season, when he would have to take a November physical as part of the free agent process.
Even Chris Collins Can't Cover for Him Now
Chris Collins, NECN on WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan -- "He didn’t want to talk to Lucchino, they don’t have a good relationship… he said ‘how’s your Achilles’ heel doing?’ and he says "it’s fine." According to Nomar, he said “if we don’t take of my Achilles’ tendon, which means give it the proper rest, and take days off when we need to take days off… down the road, this whole thing is going to blow up, and we’re going to end up taking days off, and we’re going to end up on the DL." He said he had an MRI done a few days ago, and there was swelling. Him and the trainers have always been in agreement with his injury... there's a strong dislike between Nomar and Larry Lucchino, I think they lied to him quite a bit... I know he was told on several occasions that there absolutely, unequivocally wasn't going to be a trade."
Is a Respected Chicago Writer on Lucchino's Payroll Too?
Chicago Tribune’s Tom Sherer on WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan -- "The Cubs heard from Arn Tellem and a baseball person who was tight with Tellem, I’m going to guess it’s Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner of the White Sox who actually has a very good relationship with Tellem, who was assured that Tellem was not conning anybody. The basic bottom line is the Cubs were very satisfied that Garciaparra will be ‘extremely available,’ they may have to rest him every now and then, they have no problem with that, they rest guys all the time… they didn’t have the concerns physically for Nomar that the Red Sox had. They have no doubt that he’ll give 100% here. (Gerry Callahan: Really, it can’t be both... if he gives 100% and doesn’t go on the DL for the Cubs, then he was tanking it for the Red Sox) I know, well that’s my conclusion frankly. If he doesn’t miss a substantial number of games, then yes, I believe so. The conditions that existed in Boston, do not exist here."
Gerry Callahan: "He's (Nomar's) a complete disgrace, he's a fraud, he's a phony."
There's No One Else to Blame,
Tito Costs Sox Another Game
Is There a Manager Trading Deadline?
Nation Knew Pedro Needed to Pitch in the Eighth. Period. Francoma Asleep at the Wheel Again, Removes Cruising Ace for Firestarter Timlin.
Game. Set. Overmatched.
Another Needless Loss to Twins in Game They Had to Win, 4-3
That Was No Cabrera Error, Kap's Fault Obviously, Runner Scores on Next Fly Anyway...
But This Defense Still Stinks. Where's Johnny in Center? Ortiz Ban Costly.
Tito's Terrible Managing: Embattled Skipper Blames Pedro's Pinched Hip That He Caused Himself by Leaving Ace in 10-Run Blowout on Wet Mound. Unacceptable Lame Excuse Terry. Pedro Was Not Out of Gas, But Gasoline Alley Had Plenty and It's Disingenuous to Say You "Were Comfortable" with Timlin, Embree. Did You See Mike Pitch to Matsui Last Week? He's Not a One Run Game Boy. Was Embree Effective Last Night? We are Not Stupid Tito. And Now You Can Kiss the Division Goodbye. Where's the Outrage? What the Foulke?
NEW CUBS POUT
LET THE ORLANDO CABRERA BEGIN!
Cabby Hits Home Run in First At-Bat!
(Nomaaaahhh's Better Off Elsewhere, Stop Crying)
Survey: Knowing what you know now, does this trade help or hurt the Boston Red Sox chances of winning a World Series?
ACHILLES' HEEL: "IT'S FINE NOW"
Perfectly Healthy Nomar Tried to Tank Red Sox Chances at World Series, Kicking Our Grandfathers in the Teeth by Threatening to Put Himself on the Disabled List This Month
Lying Boston Backstabber Will Wear #8 and Bat Second for Chicago Today as He's Suddenly Able to Play. Remaining Nomar Lemmings Wait to See if He Goes on DL for the Cubs When They'll Have No One Left to Blame But the Guilty Garciaparra
Multiple sources have confirmed to Boston Dirt Dogs Bob Lobel's breaking news report that former Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra went to see Red Sox trainers Jim Rowe and Chris Correnti four days ago and informed them that his tendonitis "was bothering him" and he would not be able to play in the crucial series in Minnesota. Garciaparra then added "I'll probably have to go on the DL in August, I need extended time off, to be ready for the end of the year... the most important time for me to be healthy is in November (when open bidding begins on his services)."
After a full examination of Garciaparra's heel, the trainers concluded that Nomar was indeed fit to play, telling the disgruntled shortstop that the heel "looks fine to us."
Nomar then sat out Friday's game in Minnesota. On Saturday, when the trade opportunity with the Chicago Cubs heated back up, Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino called Nomar Garciaparra and informed him that there was a strong possibility that he would be moved to the Cubs by the 4:00pm deadline in the spirit of full disclosure. Lucchino then asked Garciaparra how his Achilles' injury was doing. Nomar replied "It's fine now."
CBS4's Bob Lobel chimes in: "This isn't about me or Boston Dirt Dogs, Gammons, Remy, or anyone in the media. Nomar had an exit strategy and he used it. No one wins here, especially the fans that loved #5. He used his options to get out of town; the front office did what they could to appease him. It's a no win situation for everyone. No one lied, no one cheated, no one did the club's bidding, and there was no bad reporting involved. Everyone had their agendas and, once again, the fans are left wondering and questioning who lied, who is the bad guy here, who is the good guy, and who got screwed over... besides the Red Sox fans. It's painful to live in this town sometimes. This is one of those times. When someone holds all the cards, and chooses to play those cards, almost everyone is without much of a choice. It's our lot in life. It's not a lot but it's our life. The only thing left to say is... why can't we get players like that?"
EPSTEIN BARS VIRUS
GONE-SEE-YA-PARRA!
Theo Cures Cancer in the Clubhouse,
No More Nomar as Malcontent Shortstop Traded to Cubs,
First Thing: Milosevic Out of Exile, Sox Go on Defensive,
Orlando Comes to Disneyland, Cabrera Takes Taxi to Boston,
New Team Shortstop Replaces Lone Ranger, Plugs #5 Hole.
Mad About Nomar
8.1.04:
I cannot believe you idiots are happy Nomah was traded !!!!!
Let’s think back about the team’s history, shall we? Hmmmm, Ruth, Boggs, Clemens, Tiant, Fisk, Lynn, Cy Young, Eckersly, and now Nomah. Starting to see a pattern now? You are so busy spewing hatred about the one and only player who ever stayed true to a team and not to the almighty dollar. I bet you are now hoping that we trade Varitek instead of offering him a good chunk of cash, huh?
I used to enjoy visiting your website and getting some info. But now I cannot stomach your ramblings. This sight has become the National Enquirer of the Boston Red Sox. You aren’t interested at all in the Sox winning a Series because that will leave you nothing to bitch about on a daily basis. You love when the owners do this stupid (expletive) so you can keep your website up and running.
I have lost all faith in Theo. Lucchino, Henry and Werner are even bigger idiots than you dirt dogs so it (sic) clear why you support them. First Lucchino screws up Baltimore, then he and Werner totally F up San Diego and now they have moved on to my beloved Sox and totally screwed us over. Nice job guys! So you dirt dogs keep sending your support to those A-holes – you are all meant to be together!!!!
- The Favoloras
(In other news, online, out-of-town fanboy lemmings keep blinders on, remain up in arms over losing their Nomie. They refuse to believe the truth, look to blame the media and Lucchino (yawn), and are mad that the Nomah posters have to come down from their bedroom walls and grouchy that they can't wear their #5 jerseys to work no more.)
As Dirt Dog posted on RedSoxNation.net 7.31.04. 1:30am: "Here's the latest from various sources fwiw: D-Lowe appears safe and should make his start tomorrow. But the Red Sox are working frantically as we speak to move Nomar... his sour-puss, selfish attitude has gone even further south. Sox are giving up on his re-signing at this hour and they are on the phone with the Cubs frantically trying to make a deal that works for both teams."
"7.31.04 - 2:02am -- BDD update: Changes in attitude: D-Lowe is safe, while Sox scramble in the 11th hour to move malcontent Nomar Garciaparra."
Media ups and downs: Bob Lobel on CBS4 broke the Nomar trade story yesterday at the 4:00pm deadline during CBS's Buick Open golf coverage. Channel 4 broke back in at 4:45pm to confirm the players involved in the deal. Other broadcast news outlets including WCVB Channel 5 (who's sports coverage is even worse that their bumbling DNC coverage) and Sports Radio 850 WEEI (weekend crew was weak), reported inaccuracies throughout the day, e.g. the Cubs deal had fallen apart, Derek Lowe was scratched for last night's start, and that D-Lowe had been traded to Chicago for Matt Clement, were incorrect. Mile-wide-inch-deep Greg Dickerson botched the coverage for the Red Sox flagship yesterday as he's done on Randy Johnson (following the lies of the NY rags for weeks). Earlier this week, he also repeatedly botched Dave Borkowski's name, calling him "Joe." Michael Holley did a nice job filling in for D&C fwiw.
If You Go to Church Today...
Thank God for Theo Epstein.
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