David Ortiz...What to say?

I'm not surprised, none of us should be, we all knew in our hearts that this was most likely true.

But I do have some questions:

• Why come so strongly out against steroids when you knew you had tested positive?
• Is Ortiz' entire career, and in effect his story, a lie?
• Does 2004 and 2007 just come down the fact that the Red Sox simply had the better chemists, not the better team?
• Does this change the way you feel about Ortiz?

I'm shuffling through all of my thoughts, but ultimately I'm more disappointed because he lied so vehemently. Ortiz took such a strong stance against the steroid users in order to prove to us that he was not only a better player, but a better person, than those caught. Ultimately though, he is just one of many who tried to get a leg up through a needle, he's no longer special.

Today, he's just David Ortiz and no longer Big Papi.

Winning = More Facial Hair

Let's face it folks (pun intended), the Red Sox don't have enough facial hair to win right now. It is scientific fact:

Sports + Facial Hair = Win

Furthermore...

Sports + Retro Facial Hair = More Winning

Year after year in the NHL who wins Lord Stanley's Cup? That's right, the best playoff beard, how else can one come to grips with the Ducks winning the trophy? (Image Courtesy of SunTimes.com)

Don't believe me? OK, let's look at the NBA. The only year Lebron has made the finals what did he grow...that's right, the infamous neck beard (Image Courtesy of FanIQ.com):


Let's get to baseball and all I need to tell you is that watching the Cardinals/Dodgers game last night I saw something remarkable, well two things. First is that Julio Lugo is something like 12-18 since being traded to the Cards...I mean, that is just staggering.

Asked why the sudden turn around Lugo pointed across the locker room and said simply, "Rick Ankiel's Mustache" and thusly I saw remarkable item number two. (Image Courtesy of MLB.com...oh, and Lugo didn't actually say the above quote, but he should.)


The Cardinals just swept the best team in baseball, including a walk-off 15 inning win last night. Do you need anymore evidence that the Red Sox need to go Johnny Damon/Kevin Millar and throw out all the razors in the clubhouse?

And please note that the facial hair corollary also works in reverse when said facial hair has been on said face for too long and a slump ensues:

Red Sox are Simply Not Contenders

On a night when Jim Rice was honored for his greatness and hard work, the Sox simply fell apart in spectacular fashion. Our short term memories may not let us remember, but there is much blame to be thrown around for this loss and it all comes out of the bullpen. Ramirez, Okajima and Pabelbon could not get through innings unscathed. Surely Pabelbon's 9th seems to ring as the worse, but Ramirez and Okajima have blame on their hands by even making it a close game. And Nick Green, don't think I've forgotten about your 0-4 and 2 error performance.

Ultimately it is never one player's fault, baseball has a knack of equaling itself out over 9 innings and certainly over six months. The fact is that this team has a lot of great parts, but is simply not a good machine working together. This, I think, has been apparent from the beginning when we referred to them as "boring" or "workman like". At the time, because they were feasting on bad, beat up and not settled teams it all seemed find and dandy.

It's nearly August and we have a very good team in Boston, but it's not a team that can contend for a World Series. Period.

Injuries are hitting the pitching staff hard. Some of the elder players are worn down (no surprise). Jason Bay left his bat in the first half. And it seems as if nobody wants to step up and become the team clown to help loosen this clubhouse up a bit, which is a critical ingredient they lost with Kotsay leaving. A few more losses like last night and we may see another Boston Massacre like in '06.

Is a Halladay trade the answer? I'm on the record as wanting to be rid of Bucholz from the beginning of the season, I think he has a bright future ahead of him, but that is all upside. You know what you get with Halladay. Either way, if the Sox want to win a World Series in '09, they have to do something dramatic before close of MLB business on Friday.

Agree? Disagree?

AL Stars P0wn NL's Best... Again!

Growing up, I remember watching nearly every MLB All Star game and if my recollection serves me properly, the games weren't scheduled to fit Fox or ABC's "Prime Time" schedule so I was able to stay up for the entire thing. Back then, I had my heart broken nearly every year because as a fan of the Red Sox, I was an "AL" guy. Yup, you know what I'm talking about. Between 1950-1987 (I was born in 1968), the NL won 33 of 42 times with one tie. That's A LOT of dominating.

Now it seems like the AL is equally dominating having not lost since 1996. And the good news is that the game now means something since it determines home field advantage for the Fall Classic. That didn't help the Rays last year but certainly helped the Red Sox in 2007 and 2004. If the Sox can hold on and have a shot at the World Series this year, it's a HUGE advantage to them to be able to play games one and two in Fenway.

So what's the deal withe recent AL domination? Is the AL really that much better than the NL? Does good hitting actually trump good pitching and defense? Inquiring minds want to know!

So Assuming We Don't Empty the Farm for Halladay...

A big THANK YOU to friend, Derek Peplau, for stepping up and asking the question, "How Badly Do You Want [Doc Halladay]." We were definitely on the verge of tumbleweeds blowing through Big Papelbon so we needed the injection of fresh content.

In the comments, Kyle Flaherty teed up the idea of the Red Sox needing a bat. Several of us agreed -- especially with Youkilis in a nasty slump (2 for 26), Lowell on the DL and Papi just starting to emerge from this spring/early summer's hibernation -- but who to go after?

While we'd all love to make a play for Pujols, he's most likely even more out of reach than Doc Halladay. Speaking of Halladays... how about Matt Holliday who has dropped off the planet for the A's. I'm guessing that a change of atmosphere could do him good and he could be had for a solid AA pitching prospect and maybe Kotsay.

What do my fellow GM-wannabe's think?

How Badly Do You Want Him?

Reports indicate that J.P. Riccardi and the Blue Jays are shopping one of the premiere pitchers in the game, Roy Halladay.

A Beckett, Lester, Hallady rotation would surely make the denizens of Yawkey Way the prohibitive favorites to win the World Series. It almost seems unfair to the rest of the league.

It's still early days as the news broke only yesterday, but here's the question for the BigP cognoscenti:

What would you be willing to give up (and, by extension, what do you think it will take) to get such a premiere hurler in the prime of his career and bolster a pitching staff which is already one of the best in the major leagues?