Angels in the Centerfold.

Let's go real Dirt Dogs (wish we were there).

Lucchino on The End (of Grady?)

Monday, September 30, 2002

Is Little Still in the Middle?

2002: The Year to be
Deer-in-the-Headlights.
2003: The Return of Grady?

Larry and Mike take the Manager's Jersey (are they putting us on?)

Saturday September 28, 2002

Ass BacKwards

Manny gets pissed for the first time ever now... with his batting title on the line and not much else.

Your 2003 Manager, the Little Enabler:
Grady said he can't remember Ramirez so animated. ''Maybe never,'' said the manager. ''He's never been in, probably, a position he's in right now, trying to get something accomplished that he's trying to get accomplished.''

Umm what happened to Manny trying to get something "accomplished" during the late innings of the 9-8 Yankee losses?
Or the pack-it-in-mail-it-in-back-to-back-Yankee-shutouts-at-home embarrassments before the non-strike? Remember team goals Grady? I thought going deep in the playoffs was the only thing the Boston Red Sox were out to "accomplish."

Pats to Strike Lightning in San Diego?

I really like the way they do it. They really keep it going.

Wednesday September 25, 2002

CASEY CONQUERS CHICAGO 4-2

Texas Beats Anaheim 2-1, Still Alive.

Tuesday September 24, 2002

SOX SURVIVORS Outwit, Outlast, Outplay Orioles

Boston wins 5-4 in 15 to sweep O's as Urbina, Embree blow saves. Too bad Grady already quit on the season.

Monday September 23, 2002

20 Questions Answered

Pedro gets 20th, goes for Cy, new contract, but will "Shut it Down" (the old 2001 Red Sox battlecry, replaced by "Too Shook Up About Strike" the 2002 mantra)

Sox Remind Us of What Might Have Been 13-2.

More Pedro Quotes While the 'Team' is Still Alive:

"I'm not in a hurry to get their money. They can defer whatever they want. It's up to them.''

No Time Like the Present for this #%&?!

How Now? Brown Wow!

Troy Brown breaks Terry Glenn's record for Patriots receptions in a game.  New England goes into overdrive, overtime to beat Kansas City 41-38

Sunday September 22, 2002

PEDRO GOES FOR 20 TODAY...

$20 Million Per Year That Is.

``It's bye-bye, once the year starts, I'm gone, I'm just going to pitch. I won't wait until the All-Star break to talk to them.''

A Little Goodbye

But which one is going? Or are they both?

Burkett Doesn't Fly South This Time,
But Birds Do.

Sox Clip Orioles 3-0... 'Still Alive' in Wildcard.

Seems Like Old Times. Sox Pack Up Again. 

Just Like When Grady Let Them Get All-Shook-Up About the Non-Strike, Sox Pack Bags Early and Often.

Saturday, September 22, 2002

"21"

We have a Winner. Mister Derek Lowe.

Friday September 21, 2002

The Windup City

And you think Boston is a tough place to play?

Sorry but the Chicago 'Like Father Like Son' act does not compare with me and my dad yelling "Hey Boycott Burkett, Buy a One-Way Ticket to Texas Next Time."

Thursday September 20, 2002

The Buck Stops Here

Lucky Stars

Larry Lucchino: "There's been no discussion about trading Nomar Garciaparra."

John Dennis: "Anybody who is even slightly attuned with what's happening at Fenway Park and this baseball team would have hard time disagreeing with the fact that you have three special players on this team, and I mean special players on this team, in Nomar, Pedro, and Manny. I'm wondering if their presence on this team jives with your financial plan for the immediate, intermediate, and long-term goals of this club Larry?"

Larry Lucchino: "Yes (without hesitation). (JD: They do?) Yes, we've planned to retain the players that we have, we've anticipated that. That doesn't mean that our payroll is going to grow exponentially every year, it just means that you try to build around your core players and supplement them, but what you want to avoid doing is paying gigantic $6-7-8 million contracts to players that don't contribute, which is exactly what happened to us this year, and blew our payroll all out of proportion."

Nomar Embrace Sox Nation

"I embrace them, they embrace me"

Nomar sees the signs. We yelled "We love you Nomar," "Stick it out buddy," "No need for the mirror." 7th inning he finally looked up, looked at sign, looked fans in the eye, and gave a smile. Guy behind me says "I've been sitting in these seats for six years, he's never looked up into the crowd before."

The Garciaparra World Press Tour continues (suddenly, he can't shut up -- too bad we didn't hear from him more before):

Candid or Canned?

Nomar Unplugged? Media Wiseguy Takes the High Road... for Now.

9.18.02 5:00pm (combination of general press conference and exclusive with Debbie Wrobleski on The Zone) Breaking News: No surprise - Smiling, laughing Nomar addresses media, says everything you want to hear "loves it here, happy here, loves putting on this uniform, doesn't want to take it off until he retires, wants to win World Series, blah, blah, blah." (Best part is when some funny man decides to play Manny's 'I got high, high, high' on 11 on the Bose box 3/4 of way through the press conference, nice to see some folks over there still have a sense of humor)  Question: "See this (Buckley's column)?" asks Dave Heusckel. "Nice picture." the reply.

To Deb: "Never said I wanted to go back to West Coast, sometimes I like the sun a little bit... hee, hee.  I wasn't pointing fingers at anybody... was just talking...to no one in particular, maybe the team... we're all down, had high expectations, packing bags to go home vs. what city are we playing in, bust my butt, I never called Charlie Scoggins, never did it in five to six years, never happened."

Are you a leader: "I... uh...I.. I don't know... well um... how my teammates perceive me... uh... Wakefield and I have been there the longest, say things when they need to be said... I'm not going to change myself or my character, they'd be laughing at me, whatever, every time that comes up they say we need a leader.  Do I need a leader?  Do I need someone to follow?  If you need someone to follow now, you've got problems.  We have a lot of leaders on this team. Great individuals that turn to each other. We say what needs to be said."

What went wrong?: "Tough to figure out. Two 20 games winners, top in ERA, two 100 RBI guys, hee, hee, if we were in Central we'd have same record as the Twins, we might end up with the sixth best record in MLB. One run games, the inter-league games, had to face some guys others didn't, weird hops, luck in one run games. This team is so good, hopefully. I love these guys."  Should Grady be back? "Are you kidding? Of course. Oh yeah, managers down, the whole staff, media, everybody come on back, hee, hee, we'll have a barbecue." ("with Steve Buckley on a spit" - Ron Borges). 

The Buckshot Heard 'Round the Nation

Is Nomar Better... off someplace else?

Grady, Defense Make All The Wrong Moves. 

Sox blow 4-0 lead to lose it 6-4, thankfully it doesn't matter (or does it?).

FENWAY FEEDBACK

Fans invited to chat with Lucky, Tom, Charles, Mike, Sam

Wednesday September 19, 2002

Wakefield of Dreams

Sign Tim up. Manny continues to remind us of what might have been.
Red Sox 4 Indians 2

Tuesday September 18, 2002

Grady Gives Up and Quits on Team, Fans

Furious families come out in the rain for one time shot to see the
All-Star Strike team.  Instead Nomar, Shea, and Manny sit while fans get $oaked at Yawkey Pay. Practice Squad cruises to 7-1 loss.

Hey Nineteen!

"Sweet things from Boston, Cy Young and Willing... the Cuervo Gold, The fine Dominican, Make tonight a wonderful thing.
(Wild Card?) No we can't dance together. No we can't talk at all."

Short Stop in Boston for Nomar?

"You're just like those (expletive) reporters," Nomar said to teammate Lou Merloni. "You just make stuff up."  He shouted the expletive over his shoulder, just to make sure the assembled members of the press corps heard him. Then he repeated it three times. Garciaparra isn't the first guy to clash with the press, and he won't be the last. But his complaints come off as petty, especially when one considers that (a) radio replays verify he wasn't misquoted, and (b) Cubbage felt singled out himself.  Lawrence Eagle-Tribune

Monday September 16, 2002

Think How We Feel John. $5.5M More and Another Year of Headaches.

Orioles can't win last 100 or so but take two of three from Sox.  Pitcher hasn't won all year, but dominates Boston lineup. 
Are you seeing the trends John? Larry?

 P-A-T-S... Pats, Pats, Pats

Winners win when they're winning.

California Daydreamin' Backtrackin'

Nomar now says he didn't throw Cubbage under the bus, misquoted, misunderstood, mistake.

Gammons: "Manny shut Down when Rick left."

Sunday September 15, 2002

Beyond the Shadow of a Doubt

Two-0 for D-Lowe

Our #2 Boy Turned Out to be #1

CONGRATULATIONS DEREK ON WIN NUMBER 20.

HARD WORK DOES INDEED PAY OFF.

Manny on a Mission

Batting title within reach, Manny's all fired up now.

Saturday, September 14, 2002

Garciapopoff

Nomar Blames Cubbage, Fans

"I didn't hear anything, so I didn't know he was even there."

"It's a good place to play, right? A lot of positive vibes around here. It's great."

for The Year to Be Jeered

THREE RING CIRCUS

Fenway Tragic: Yawkey Way or the Highway.

Clowns on stilts tell fans "Excuse me, could you move!" Ushers tell fans "Would you keep it down!"

(Not our fault you can hear a pin drop after the fifth, good luck getting rid of the 90-year history of booing bad play)

Friday, September 13, 2002

Don't Be Anti-Amannycan!

Sox Say Leave the Man Alone and Stand by Your Manny! 

Fans don't know what to believe. Will video kill the radio talk?  Sox top Rays 6-3.

Lucchino on Mannygate

Thursday September 12, 2002

Grand Slam?

Manny minutes late and steps ahead with mate for Uncle Sam. But another Ramirez homer helps Sox top Rays 6-3.

Wednesday September 11, 2002 - God Bless America, and remember the victims of the terrorists attacks on our country

A Little Embarrassing

Grady changes his tune. Should have sat Manny "on the spot."  Won't happen again (neither will he).

Tuesday September 10, 2002

Sox Brush Back Rays

Manny won't get out of the box on ground ball. Grady says nothing except Manny "almost fell down on that check swing."

Sox win 6-3

Monday September 9, 2002

Sox Get Stoned By Jays

Frank Gets Bombed (and drops a few F-bombs)
Toronto 9-4

The Music Manny

Mannyjuana is not a Sinatra Man

Sunday September 8, 2002

OKasey

Sox on another roll. Manny and Casey lead the way over Jays 4-1.

Saturday September 7, 2002

Benny There, Done That.

Sox Strike Toronto 7-2

Friday September 6, 2002

Flatin Night

Sox Will Finish Out of the Money

Thursday September 5, 2002

Grady Hunch

''Up until last Friday, I think I know where all of our guys' focus was''

Just What The Dentist Ordered

Now sit back and relax, this won't hurt a bit

Port Kicks Up a Storm

"Clubs that win games have a hunger that they want to win... So, to put it rhetorically, did you see that with our current state?"

Wait 'Till Next Year

Burkett: "I have to fly home to Texas to pick up my cap but I'll
be back before 7:00pm tomorrow."  (The fans can't wait John.)

Game. Set. Match.

Rickey leads off because Grady doesn't know how to win.
Phony Clark pops out and K's twice as expected.
And DLowe pitches just well enough to lose.

Another Manny 6-4-3 DP when it counts as Giambi wins it for Yankees.

Manny on the Sox chances: "oh yeah, you don't know what's gonna happen... oh yeah, we're playing fine, you have to give the other guys' credit... oh yeah, we miss Pedro, but Castillo did a good job, that's the way it is... there's still a lot of games to go."

Wednesday September 4, 2002

TROUBLE PLAY

."That was a tough double play," said the Little Apologist. "The runner was bearing down on Rey and it made it awfully tough on him to get that double play turned."

(too bad the picture doesn't lie too)

GetGradyGone probably also said that Manny "ran as fast as he could" after Couldn'tCareLess wildly swung at the first pitch, grounding into the season-ending double play.

Barbarians at the Gates

But will the fence keep us in or out?

And the answer is "A New York Minute."  The question posed this morning by Dan Shaughnessy: "But how fast would it take Red Sox Nation to forgive Clemens if he toed the rubber in a Sox uniform at Fenway next April?"

Tuesday September 3, 2002

Rainmaker

Nomar Pours it On the Yankees

Casey keeps them in it early. No more popping up, off for Garciaparra,
Sox romp 8-4.

"They're a great bunch of guys in this room," Garciaparra said. "No one hangs their head, no one points fingers. Everyone just wants to know what they can do to help the club win."

"Too often this season the Red Sox have either been dirt dogs or kittens, and rarely anything in between. Yesterday, however, they were Impossible Dream-like in their execution and their clutch hitting, a quality they will need if they are to make it to October." -- Steve Buckley, Boston Herald - 9.3.02

The Bad News

Pedro may miss next start as hipshouldergroin injury will require extended rest through October.

The Good News

StrikeSox breaking up. "Now that the strike situation is over with, I think the attitude is 'it's time to turn it on, let's not look back.''' - 9.2.02 Casey Fossum (too bad they didn't 'turn it on' in June, July, and August)

Here Comes Benny and the Rooks

Outfielder Benny Agbayani, infielder Shane Andrews, right-hander Josh Hancock and infielder Freddy Sanchez join catcher Kevin Brown with the big club

Monday September 2, 2002

Hey Nomar Excuses, Time for a New York State of Mind.

Can Pedro-less Sox Survive Bronx Bombers? Will Sox Bats Play Possum for Fossum Again?

Read Hench's Corner in the Boston Sunday Globe:

9.2.02: "Watching Shea Hillenbrand jog to first on his line drive to right and escape the ignominy of a 9-3 putout only by the grace of Jim Thome's gracelessness Friday night made one wonder: Is it really possible that a 27 year-old former soccer player doesn't have the energy to make four all-out sprints over the course of three hours? This was the first inning!"

Sunday September 1, 2002

Wake Stays Hot, Cleveland Can't Touch This.

Manny, Daubach and Sox Trounce Cleveland 7-1, But Boston Gains No Ground.

THE LONG ANTICIPATED SOFT-SEPTEMBER SCHEDULE IS HERE.

Close Comebacks Don't Cut It, They've Already Ruined Our Summer, Let's Hope They Don't Fall Further in Autumn.

25 Guys, 25 Tabs

In today's Boston Sunday Globe Cliff Floyd "hinted that the Boston fans have been harsher than he anticipated, the social atmosphere among his teammates is different from his past experience, and the American League has been harder to accept than he had hoped."  As a Marlin, he said, if he missed a ball, the fans ''still love you.'' And he said his teammates were younger and in some ways socialized more as a team than the Sox. ''Here, a lot of guys make a lot of money and everybody does their thing,'' he said. ''Different strokes for different folks.''

Nomar's Better...
Off Somewhere Else?

'Misunderstood' Nomar blames fans for not getting his side of the story: ''Fans are going to miss a lot of good guys,'' he hinted. ''I've said that all along. You like wearing a guy's T-shirt with his name on it - maybe he won't be here next year.''

Teknically Speaking...
Manny is Lazy

``To come back like that and lose it on a ball where Johnny has to cover more ground than he needs to - that's not Johnny's ball,'' said a blunt and agitated Jason Varitek, the Sox catcher. ``Johnny's gotta cover for Manny (Ramirez). Plain and simple. He just overran the ball. Johnny was just hustling.''