Monday Musings: December 18 (Tuesday Edition)

A few thoughts as we head into the holiday season:

1. Roger Clemens on steroids? Who knew.
2. You have to feel a little bit bad for the Boston Bruins. They have the third best record in the NHL (second place in their division) yet you would think they were the Weston High School girls field hockey team in terms of the love they get. To that end, I was driving up to Maine last weekend and passed a ticket broker who had their "top events" listed on their sign out front. One of the items listed was "Bruins Tickets." I scratched my head on that one - do people in Maine know that you can by scalped Bruins tickets for about 50% of face value right now?
3. Patriots/Jets - was anyone else disappointed that Belichick didn't spit in Mangini's face after last Sunday's game? I didn't really expect any fireworks but there was a little part of me that was hoping for something more dramatic. Maybe even a friendly knee in the groin. Oh well.
   
   To that end, I was listening to WEEI last night and Big O. and the boys had Coach Belichick on. After about two minutes of discussion, I came to the conclusion that aliens had replaced Coach B. with a kinder, gentler, more humorous being. During the conversation, Belichick stopped Freddy, Steve, Pete and Big O. and asked them who they thought the Jets should go with at QB. He then sat back and listened to the boys trip all over themselves as they tried to impress Coach with their answers. What was shocking was the fact that B elichick seemed to be enjoying himself. It was nice to see a human side to Belichick.
   
4. To my fantasy boys -- you know who you are -- what are the odds that three of the top four seeds all fall in the first round? My Melrose Mildew (7 seed) is riding Adrian Peterson all the way to the finals baby!
5. Is the Santana deal going to get done or not? For all the pomp and circumstance about that deal, I can't believe that something isn't going to get done. Last Thursday on WEEI, Kirk Schilling practically guaranteed that the Sox would get Santana. As much as I'm conflicted about losing Ellsbury, having Santana alongside Beckett, Dice K, Bucholtz/Lester and Schilling is nothing short of awesome.
6. Poor ARod and Scott Boras aren't speaking. A lovers quarrel perhaps?
7. This is apropos of nothing but is Junior Seau gay? I don't care if he is or isn't but every time they show him in the locker room after a game, one has to wonder.
   
8. Anyone else excited about the Celts 20-2 start?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts...

Note to Tito

1) Might not want to bring Mike Timlin in when there are guys on base. Last I checked, Timlin is one of the worst in the league at allowing inherited runners to score.
2) Come to think of it, Tito might not EVER want to bring in Timlin on account of the fact that he sucks 'cause he's old.
3) Has anyone seen Curt Schilling? There is an overweight guy that keeps leaving 88 mph fastballs over the plate for HRs that looks like Curt but definitely isn't the Curt of old. In spite of the 1-hitter against the A's, Theo is looking brighter by the day for not signing Schill to a contract extension.

UPDATE [6/19] : I just saw on Boston.com that Schilling is headed back to Boston for an MRI so he may be hurt. If so, that explains why his last two outings have been less than stellar. I'm wondering if he overdid it in his bid for a "no no"? Either way, I rescind my criticism of Schill-dog in the above post if that is the case.

No "No No"

What a game. What a performance. Man did the Sox need yesterday's win. Driving through Boston after Wednesday night's fourth straight heart-breaker, I could swear I saw a few Red Sox fans teetering on the top of the Pru.

Speaking of heart breaking, I can't believe that Curt got within one out of the "no no" yesterday. I watched the last three innings of the game from the hospital (my third child, Audrey Catherine" was born last night). I joked with my wife as she lay her hospital bed dealing with the pain of contractions every fifteen minutes, "Honey, if Curt gets a no hitter today, we're going to have to go with 'Schilling' or 'Curtwina' for our daughter's middle name." Surprisingly, my wife was not amused by this notion.

Fortunately for my wife -- and daughter -- Shannon Stewart ended Schilling's bid for history with two outs in the ninth. In some ways, this was a blessing in disguise. Can you imagine the guilt Lugo would have felt knowing that he was the reason that Curt missed pitching the 18th perfect game in the history of Major League Baseball? Why has nobody mentioned this by the way? I know it's a moot point but when Lugo made his error in the seventh, all I could think was, "Lugo just blew Schilling's perfect game."

Being a glass half full kind of guy, I'll look at the fact that Schilling came up huge yesterday in spite of missing out on the "no no." He did what a stopper is supposed to do -- he won. That in the face of another anemic offensive performance. Can you imagine the pressure of pitching with a one run lead in a game knowing that a) you had to win and b) you really needed to go at least seven if not eight innings in order to spare your overworked bullpen?

Let's hope things turn around for the Sox bats this weekend. I guess at this point, they can't get much worse. One strategy they might employ is when they have a runner on first is to ALWAYS lay down a sacrifice bunt. Yes, I'm recommending this even if Ortiz or Manny is at the plate. How many double plays have they hit into in the last three games. Seven?

On that note, let's play ball!

Rooster Ramblings

-- Seeing as the Red Sox have always been a major backer of the Jimmy Fund, I've got a fundraising idea sure to be a hit with the fans. The Sox brass donates a $1000 each time Curt Schilling issues a "no comment." The Rooster, for one, would be glad to donate to that cause.

-- If David Ortiz isn't convinced that Barry Bonds took steroids, who are the baseball reporters to argue? In the land of the talking heads and knights of the keyboards, there's an eery silence surrounding the physical validity of a certain soon-to-be 45-year-old who's returning and throwing in the 90s. I guess we're to assume these gifts are natural, fellas? The journalist silence on this is reminiscent of the lack of digging that occurred when Bonds broke the McGwire's single-season record. (Oh, and in related news, George Mitchell just ordered a steak at Abe & Louie's.)

-- Because he has been the era's most dominant closer (and player perhaps), the tendency is to assume that Mariano Rivera will, of course, bounce back from his early season troubles. But there are some troubling signs for the Yankees. Namely, when you faced Rivera in his prime -- well, even just last year -- and you went down two strikes early in the count, you knew what was coming: the high fastball. And was it the most unhittable pitch in the game. This year? Not so much. Adrian Beltre and Marco Scutaro (Marco Scutaro!) have already beaten Rivera in the ninth with home runs off the high heat and our own Jason Varitek repeatedly fought off the two-strike high heat in the Bronx (as big an indictment of the pitch as you'll find). It says here that the Yankees' fortunes the rest of the way will be tied more closely to Rivera finding that pitch than they will to Roger Clemens giving them five innings every fifth day.

-- Tom Caron is to NESN what Ernie Johnson, Jr. is to TNT.

-- Yeah, Year One was frightening, but how's Year Two of the Hanley Ramirez trade treating you? Beckett's 7-0 and Mike Lowell is on pace for a career year (making his feared $9MM salary a bargain). Meanwhile, Anibel Sanchez was just sent back to AAA by the Marlins. Props to you, Theo. (Now about that Arroyo deal ....)

-- This just in: Floyd Mayweather likes money.

-- There's a rumor floating around the NBA that if the Suns flame out against the Spurs, they are going to make a run at the No. 2 pick and Kevin Durant, sacrificing their first round pick (which could be as high as No. 5) and any player outside of Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire. This, of course, could raise some interesting possibilities for the C's. Would you sacrifice Durant and a player (Gomes?) for the No. 5 pick and, say, Shawn Marion? I would. The scary part of this, however, is that the decision rests with Danny Ainge. While Danny has drafted well, he consistently has been fleeced in trades. This draft -- and subsequent off-season of moves -- is culmination of three years of playing the young'ns and building their value. Make the wrong moves now, and it will be devastating for the franchise. The lottery is May 22.

-- It's great to see old friend Christopher Trotman Nixon go 8-for-10 in back-to-back games against Orioles. Not so nice: seeing that SS Alex Gonzalez has 7 dingers for the Reds. I'm not so sure we will see a better defensive shortstop suit up for the Sox in our lifetimes.

-- Finally some sad news to report: I went to get me some ribs before a Sox game last week and discovered dust gathering on the tables and chairs at the Linwood Grille. Yup, the barbecue has been shut down for good. Apparently, it is going to re-open as an "American grille" at some point. Like we need more of those ... Bastards.

Random Musings on Poisson d'Avril

Four interesting tidbits from the sports page of this morning's Boston Globe:

1. I'm feeling better about Coco Crisp who went 8-20 (.400) in the seven games after returning from an injured shoulder. Let's hope that's a sign of things to come.
2. Bill James 2007 baseball handbook projection of 33 combined wins for Schilling, Beckett and Wakefield makes me a little skeptical of his methodology. I predicted the three to win 45 games in a previous post. My guess is that the answer lies somewhere in between.
3. Would you be concerned if you were a Indianapolis Colts fan and your team just lost five important contributors: running back Dominic Rhodes (Raiders), linebacker Cato June (Buccaneers), cornerback Nick Harper (Titans), defensive lineman Montae Reagor (Eagles), and receiver Brandon Stokley (Broncos) and your team -- drafting last in every round btw -- was looking to fill holes through the draft? Makes be glad to be a Patriots fan.
4. Why does the Globe continue to put NHL/Bruins highlights first in the paper when hockey is easily the fourth most popular (and arguably maybe fifth after BC football/basketball) up front in the Sunday sports section? I'm guessing it's because they want you to flip through to the good stuff i.e. baseball, basketball and football. A happy medium may be to lead with baseball or football and sandwich hockey in the middle. Do I have too much time on my hands to worry about such things? Probably.
   

A quick note on the title of this post.... For those of you lucky enough to have avoided taking French in high school, "Poisson d'Avril" is the French equivalent of "April Fool's Day." Translated, it means "fish of April." Look at the Wikipedia entry if you're interested in the back story. Happy April Fools!

Baseball 2.0

Curt Schilling gets it... not at the level of NASCAR, but he's onto something. If you haven't seen it yet, check out his new blog. It is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Check out this quote from today's post:

"Kevin Millar, even when he guesses right, can’t make himself swing at my curve ball... [snip]... With one out in the second Gibbons chased a good split, and then Millar comes up. For 3 years he’s talked trash, in person, through text messages, over the phone, about how I better never throw him my curve ball. Last year in Baltimore I started him off with it, he took it for a strike.

Today I shake ‘Tek 3-4 times, Millar calls time out, steps out and says to ‘Tek “What the hells he want an 0-0 curve ball?”, curve ball strike one. Curve ball again, yanked foul, now he’s laughing, and I am trying not to. Curve ball again he lays off. Count gets to 2-2 and he freezes on a 2 seamer inside for strike three. I don’t know if he’s debating the call or just talking, one never knows with him, but he never looks my way as I go into the dugout."

Occasionally, I'll meet someone who doesn't understand that NASCAR is possibly the only professional "sport" (let's just accept that driving around in circle at ~200 mph for a looooooong time is a sport) that truly caters to its fans. It's usually a painful conversation that has the other side leaving, resigned that I'm a redneck heathen.

Stats don't make a sport, so don't even start with fantasy football and rotisserie baseball being fan-centric. NASCAR lets fans in on the action, using in-car cameras and radios that peek in on pit crew negotiations. I don't even follow NASCAR and I know this much... speak to someone who really loves NASCAR and you'll be blown away by how they're constantly finding new ways to bring fans closer to the sport.

Back to today's post from Curt. This is the first time I've ever really felt part of one of the "major" sports. Sure being there for Game 2 of the World Series in 2004 was pretty kick ass, but this is a new paradigm. This is truly inviting fans into the game. Think about almost every time you go to Fenway... nice day, cold beers, interesting game, some truly great moments, but do you ever really feel like you're in the game? What would you pay to actually be in the meeting on the mound in the top of the ninth with the bases loaded, two outs and Big P getting ready to face ARod in late September? How about free? Would it be worth it?

Thanks Curt!

ps... Millar just joined the conversation. I love Baseball 2.0!