Yooooooouk Make me Sick

While I'm happy the Sox have signed Youk to a four year deal due to his productivity. I can't say that I'll enjoy his dbag attitude representing my favorite sports franchise. Some say the Sox should have went all out on Tex. Well did they forget that Youk is a gold glove, All-Star caliber first baseman as well. Ohh and it doesn't hurt that he finished in the top 5 for MVP voting either. I guess the Sox will have to make due. Just don't forget Yankee fan your chasing our coat tails now and for that matter the Rays young hides as well. If you think CC and Burnett can save you your fooling yourselves. I'm just saying let's not put the Sox out of AL East Champ contention just yet.

In related goofy white guy news former Celtics draft choice Kevin Pittsnogle isn't doing so swell. Maybe the C's could resign him and get him a couple minutes with the stinker of a past 3 weeks the bench has thrown up. My how quickly the shine can fade. I guess Neil Young was right "It's better to burn out then to fade away. When your outta the Blue and into the Black!"

Jimmy Eats World

Way to go American Baseball Writers you finally got it right. Jim Rice is finally inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame. While Rice may have been a prick to the media it doesn't erase the good he brought while his eyes were still good. Rice is by far the best power hitter of his time and you could even argue the best overall hitter. Who was better Reggie Jackson?

I'll let Sons of Sam explain the who, what, where, and when and I'll stick to my story. It really is a disgrace to Rice and every other hitter of his time that he wasn't voted in earlier. Especially when I hear people talking about Andre Dawson and Tim "Rock" Raines for next year's ballot. What a joke the guy has to wait 16 years, on his final ballot to finally get the respect he earned day-in and day-out. Personality aside. I still can't believe Rice is only the 4th Red Sox ever elected! Think about that. How many Yankees are in there? And no I'm not counting Boggs, that gd traitor! Now will someone start a Mo Vaughn campaign for 2009.

Johnny & Rocco

The Red Sox have signed both John Smoltz and Rocco Baldelli to free agent contracts. Not the glitzy signings you would expect from say the Yanks, but the Sox have done this year after year. They pick-up veteran guys on incentive laden deals and get the most out of them with the least amount of fiscal risk. These signings get me excited to see what's left in the tank for Smoltzy and if Rocco can be the guy they were comparing to Joe D.

There also is the possibility Theo is stockpiling talent to make a trade with the young guys (i.e. Bucholz, Bowden, etc.). You also have to wonder what the rotation will look like on the back end. There are the givens of Beckett, Lester, and Dice K of course. But, you now have flexibility with your 4th/5th starters any combo of Wake, Bucholz, Smoltz, Penny, or even Bowden. It is even possible Smoltz goes to a set-up roll I'd imagine if he's open to it. The bullpen would be looking solid with Smoltz, DelCarmen, Okajima, Ramon Ramirez, and Paps closing the door. Either way John Smoltz is better than any other 5th starter on just about every MLB roster.

As far as Baldelli coming home (Rhode Island native) I see good things he can give the Sox some speed off the bench and doesn't give up any cheap hits in the outfield. His bat can be stellar at times and having another Right-handed bat to spell J.D. will obviously be necessary. I just wonder by the end of the year who gets more AB's out of the two often injured wonder-kids. Hopefully Baldelli's disorder is in check and he can make it through the year. I guess it will be a last man standing type of job.

The Sox haven't made a big splash in free agency yet. With these two moves they have addressed depth and most teams would kill to have Baldelli and Smoltz as "depth". Hopefully the Sox can get these guys some rings.

You Sir are a Gentleman and a Scholar

"I didn’t think he would win, but I thought he deserved a nod for what might have been the best, or certainly one of the best coaching jobs of his career," Costas said. "He loses [Tom] Brady, and it’s not just losing Brady, but also that [Matt] Cassel basically never played. It’s not the same thing as losing Johnny Unitas and you have Earl Morrall. He brought the kid along.

-Barstool Sports

Question who is the only media member that voted for Bill Beclichick for Coach of the Year?...

Answer...
Wait for it......Wait for it..................................BOB COSTAS!

Well I pray he raves about Belichick the way he waxes ecstatic about Mickey Mantel. If anyone could use a "Homer" or "John the Baptist" type it is Bill, that's for god damn sure. The real question is: Do you think Costas will carry around an autographed Belichick card in his wallet?

On a side note why is the media not all over the beloved Colt Marvin Harrison? And Spygate was the story of the Century Pshhhhh! It real is always the quiet ones.

New Year New Business

My how things have changes over the past year. The Celtics and Bruins are atop their respective leagues. The Sox almost made it to consecutive World Series appearances and the Pats go 11-5 (with out Tom Brady and don't even sniff the wild-card spot. What a time to be a fan. There isn't much to complain about, but I'll try.

The most recent Boston hating came in the C's game against the Trailblazers. Apparently you can beat the Celtics you just need 6 men on the floor.

The Pats got screwed by the Jets, Mangina, and Bret Favre again. This one didn't hurt quite as much as the 97 Super Bowl loss to Favre. In the end the Pats become the second team to finish 11-5 and not make the playoffs. This season will be highlighted by Matt Cassel's emergence. Still, tyring to forget losing the '08 Super Bowl will not be easy. Rumors are that the Pats will franchise Cassel and get at least a 1st and 2nd round pick for him. Not bad for a guy who wasn't supposed to make the team out of camp. Now all we can hope is Tom's knee isn't re-injured during
"The Honeymoon".

The Sox missed out on overpaying for Mark Texiera. The Yanks threw money at anything that had a pulse this off season including Sox back-up catcher Kevin Cash (Money). The Sox settle with Brad Penny, Josh Bard, and a rumored Hanely Ramirez trade. The good news is the Sox are young and will continue to contend with their current core. The great news with they Penny signing Alyssa Milano and Elisha Dushku sightings will be plentiful at Fenway this year.

Who would have thought the Bruins would be this good. I may have to start following these guys and forget the team traded Joe Thronton in his prime. Anyway Happy Fricken New Year!

You just got Rondo'd

Is there any doubt now that Rondo isn't a top five, if not two or three, point guard in the league today? The guy is leading the Celtics to hopefully a record-breaking season. Maybe he isn't a deep threat, but there isn't a better drive 'n' dish guy in the league. He distributes the ball so well that every time you double him in the paint he's alleyooping to K.G. for a posterized slam. His numbers don't really jump out at you like a Chris Paul but 10.9 PPG, 5 boards, and 7.4 assists are more than enough to keep the Celtics monster rolling. The guy is a triple double waiting to happen almost every night. When he has down games he still holds onto the ball better than any other point guard in the game. He also has the most defined shoulder muscles I've ever seen on a human being. Guy looks like a transformer with wings. I'm a little concerned about the win streak taking a hit if Pierce is out after Mehmet Okur "Bernard Pollard'd" his ass, but I'm sure Rondo will step it up if need be with his scoring. Bottom line Celtics are on pace to break the '95 Bulls 72 win season and haven't played their best ball in Doc's eyes.

Burn Ett Burn It All!

The Yanks are making waves again this week with a proposed 5 year 85 mil offer to often injured seldom on the mound A.J. Burnett. While the Braves are said to be in the hunt for A.J. as well I'm glad the Sox are going to sit out on this one. The guys only started more than 30 games twice in his career and his elbow has been banged up more over his career than Jenna Jameson. Last year was the first time he had won more than 12 games in a season. Not that money is the issue here, but what kind of investment is this guy. To me it seems like he pitches out of his mind in contract years and is dinged up the rest of the time while he's collecting checks and having his wife take limos from Baltimore to Toronto. Now adding Burnett make the Yankees a force to be reckoned with, don't get me wrong, but how does this help them get over their playoff hump. Neither guy really scares me in a 7 game series. I'll take Beckett and Lester or Dice K over these pretenders any day.

While the Yanks clean up the underachieving, tommy john surgery having, pre-madonna pitchers the Sox will have to settle for a stud first baseman with Triple Crown potential and a gold glove. Ho Hum! My only wonder now is if Pedro will come back where he belongs.

Get this guy a Cheese Burger

Well the Yanks set their line in the sand and vastly overpaid for C.C. Sabathia. Now I know this strikes mass panic in the hearts of Red Sox nation because Sabathia has owned the Sox over his career especially in the playoffs. I mean everyone knows C.C. dominated the National league over the second half of the season last year and carried the Brewers to the playoffs. He's a Cy Young Winner and three time All-Star how can you go wrong signing this guy. He'll instantly give you the poised postseason horse your franchise desperately needs right?

Wait. What's that you say? He actually has only one win in five career postseason starts and a whopping 7.92 ERA. Ohh and his numbers in two games started in the 2007 ALCS against the Sox are horrific (2 starts 2 loses, 10.45 ERA 10 innings pitched, 17 hits, and 12 earned runs with 7 walks and 9 K's). Well maybe they did over pay a little $160 million or give him too many years 7...SEVEN years! I'm sure it will all work out in the end, Ehhhm Carl Pavano. Good luck NY way to spend in a down market.

Pats and Present

Now I don't know about the rest of you Pats fans out there, but this season has been a fun ride. Sunday's late comeback win over the lowly Seahawks lead by (Gulp!) Seneca Wallace is case-in-point. Typical of this Pats season the perceived strength with the lose of Brady the "Bend and then Break" Pats D looked lost at times and couldn't stop the pass. Now I know this is the NFL and every team has talent, but Deion "F'n" Branch shouldn't be torching your secondary; unless this is 2003 and Tom Brady is sporting a playoff beard. The lose of Bruschi will hurt the Pats run D immensely, but honestly he wasn't much of a factor this year in the pass game. Not that Junior or Rosie are washed up, but I don't see them contributing much to the pass D either. Although it was good to have them once Teddy went down with what looked like a nasty knee injury. Another huge hit was the shoulder injury to Vinny Wilfork. This one could be devastating. I consider Vinny the catalyst of this D, because when he's stopping the run and eating up double and triple teams the Pats D rolls. Ty Warren missed his third game as well; LeKevan Smith is only going to take you so far. Ohh, James Sanders went down too, so we got that going for us.

On the bright side Brandon Merriweather, who was the draft pick that came to the Pats in return for Deion Branch, showed some clutch. I really think this guy is going to be a big play maker. I just wish he had picked-off Eli back in February so we could have started the Hall-O-Fame talk. The offense lead by Cassel and Wes Welker continued to make big plays and keep the Pats in this game. Anyone else think Welker deserves some MVP mention?

For now the Pats destiny lies in others hands. The Jets or Dolphins win their next three and they're in. The Pats have to win and take care of business in the next three at Oakland, home vs. Arizona, and at the Bills. All three of these are games the Pats should win, but do they have enough bullets left in the chamber?