Oops (and the Beckett Bowl!)

Written by of http://www.soxaddict.org
Posted at 10:17 pm on August 18, 2011
Filed Under 2011 Season | 1 Comment

I know, I know. I’m a jerk. I promise more updates and instead I disappear for 5 months. But don’t worry, I’ve got an excuse! There was no way I was going to skip the Boston Bruins Stanley Cup run. If you’re a Boston sports fan, you know that this is completely understandable. The problem is that as soon as it ended, my champagne bottle ran dry and my television was about to be focused on NESN full-time again.. I left the country to wander around Wales for a month. Then I got back.. and left again, but this time for a month in southeast Asia.

There was a lot that happened in my absence. The team started the season 2-11 but then managed to turn it around in time to play hopscotch with the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Adrian Gonzalez has raked the ball all year long, Josh Beckett has looked masterful, and Jacoby Ellsbury is suddenly hitting with more power than Kevin Youkilis. I’ve returned to a world flipped on its head. The only thing that remains the same is that John Lackey is pitching like an $82.5 million dollar mistake.

While I am ashamed at myself for missing half a season, the part I feel the worst about is that I wasn’t around to remind everyone of the charitable organizations that we like to promote. I missed the launch of Charity Wine’s new Sox-themed beverages: ChardonClay (Buchholz) and CabernAce (Lester). Both wines benefit cancer institutions with Clay’s helping The Jimmy Fund and Jon’s going towards the great people at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. I’m disappointed that I missed the launch, an event I have covered in the past, but I’m glad that the people at Charity Wines are still doing their thing and helping people.

Fortunately I returned just in time to pimp out the 2011 Beckett Bowl. Beckett is a bulldog on the mound but since making it to the big leagues in 2001, he has been nothing but a big puppy dog when it comes to helping people. If you haven’t seen the video of him giving a game ball to that kid at Fenway a few weeks ago, check it out. Sure, the kid cried from happiness and might be teased at school for a few weeks but that is a story he’ll probably never stop telling.

His foundation, the aptly-named Josh Beckett Foundation, has been helping people for years and this year’s Beckett Bowl will be no exception.

What: Athletes and celebrities getting together for a bowling tournament to benefit Beckett’s foundation and the Children’s Hospital in Boston.
Who: Josh Beckett obviously but former guests have included David Ortiz, Jonathan Papelbon, Jason Varitek, Adrian Grenier, Verne Troyer, Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic, Wes Welker, and other big name celebrities.. like ME! That’s right, I’ll be there covering the event this year so if meeting Boston sports icons isn’t enough excitement, you’ll also get to hang out with a D-list blogger and Twitter junkie!
Where: Lucky Strike Lanes at Jillians (145 Ipswich Street, right down the street from Gate B at Fenway Park)
When: August 29th. The open-to-the-public red carpet appearances start at 6 PM and the festivities continue until 9:30.
How: Purchase tickets for $250 from the website or by calling 617-338-2766.

I know that the economy is still pathetic but if you can afford to help a good cause then I hope you’ll seriously think about coming. If you can’t make it then I expect you to say ‘yes’ next time the Stop & Shop cashier asks if you want to donate a dollar to The Jimmy Fund.

Seriously, you better do it.

I’m watching you.

A lot of offseason changes

Written by of http://www.soxaddict.org
Posted at 10:02 am on March 29, 2011
Filed Under Fenway Park | Leave a Comment

We are now only 3 days away from Opening Day and I have yet to say more than a few words about the Sox all offseason. I will admit that I have been swept up in the Bruins success this winter and my new job has taken up a large (read: all) portion of my free time. This is still no excuse and I am going to make up for everything right now with a quick summary post.

The Red Sox signed some guy named Gonzalez then also spent money on an outfielder from Tampa Bay. I forget his name. Crawl? Crawfish? Somethin.. There were some other guys joining our team too, including a physical reincarnation of David Wells and Matt Albers. We lost a few fellas too like Victor Martinez and the guy that always got his head rubbed by Victor Martinez as they both signed lucrative deals elsewhere. I guess that is about it..

.. except for the MOST IMPORTANT THING TO HAPPEN IN THE HISTORY OF FENWAY PARK. Management has installed a beer cup filling system that fills cups from the bottom up and only takes a few seconds. This means that time away from your seat will be minimized and the amount of alcohol available for consumption at Sox games will be maximized. Jackpot. The only way this can be ruined is if they change the price of beer from ‘your first born child’ to ‘your first TWO children.’

Video:

This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase Bottoms Up! ROFLMAO

.. Sorry. It’s been a REALLY long offseason.

2011 MLB Predictions

Written by of http://www.soxaddict.org
Posted at 8:22 pm on January 19, 2011
Filed Under Baseball Miscellaneous | Leave a Comment

It has been a long bitter-cold and snowy off-season but we’re now a little over 3 weeks away (26 days) from the start of Spring Training so I suppose it is time to get back in the swing of things.

Now I’m not much of a sports betting man but I have a habit of trying to guess the standings at the end of the season. I don’t have the best track record (no excuses for picking the Mariners to win their division) but then again, neither does ESPN or most of the other sports outlets.

Yes, I have picked the Red Sox to win the World Series. Yes, I have done that every year since 2007. Other than that, there haven’t been too many huge signings that would change the course of the baseball waters. The biggest is probably the Philadelphia Phillies adding Cliff Lee to an already solid rotation. The Cubs have also had a pretty good off-season and a change in management might be what finally propels them into no longer under-achieving. The rest of the league is business as usual.

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The Green Fields of the Mind

Written by of http://www.soxaddict.org
Posted at 4:58 pm on October 3, 2010
Filed Under 2010 Season | 2 Comments

It isn’t a wrap until one of my favorite pieces of baseball prose is relayed:

The Green Fields of the Mind
by A. Bartlett Giamatti

It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come out, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.

You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops.

Today, October 2, a Sunday of rain and broken branches and leaf-clogged drains and slick streets, it stopped, and summer was gone.

And so there it is folks. The Sox finish it out at 89-73. Watching the calendar flip until truck day 2011.

Mike Lowell’s goodbye speech

Written by of http://www.soxaddict.org
Posted at 8:46 pm on October 2, 2010
Filed Under 2010 Season | 2 Comments

Prior to today’s game, the Red Sox and company held a little pre-game ceremony for Mike Lowell in honor of his retirement from baseball. Here were Mikey’s comments given out by the Sox press patrol:

“First of all, I’d like to thank the Red Sox organization for this ceremony and the very, very generous check [the team donated $100,000 to Mike Lowell Foundation]. That’s really unbelievable.

“I’d also like to thank my family, friends, teammates, ex-teammates, my minor league coaches, believe it or not over there [gesturing to Yankees dugout] — hopefully they’ll be the silver-place winner for the game today. They’ve come a long way, a lot of people. You guys have meant so much to me over my career. I don’t know where to go with this. I just want to say thank you for that.

“You know, I’m kind of at a loss for words to kind of explain the emotions I’ve felt over the last five years, with respect to the support and positive response I’ve gotten from Red Sox fans. But I think it’s your passion and your knowledge for baseball, I’ll truly miss but I don’t think I’ll ever forget.

“So I just want to thank God for allowing me the privilege and opportunity to wear this jersey, to play in this ballpark, to represent the city of Boston and to share so many memories with all of you.

“Thank you very much.”

*tear*

Lowell went 2-2 in the 10 inning loss today (tonight?) He was removed in the 5th inning for a pinch hitter. We’ll miss you Mikey and thanks for making Josh Beckett the “toss-in player” in the Hanley Ramirez trade.

Youkilis out until 2011

Written by of http://www.soxaddict.org
Posted at 7:04 pm on August 5, 2010
Filed Under 2010 Season, Injury Watch | Leave a Comment

When it rains, it pours (literally.. have you looked outside today?!) Kevin Youkilis, one of the few remaining healthy players on the 2010 Red Sox went down with a thumb injury on Monday against the Indians. The thumb had been bothering him for a few weeks but Youkilis tried to fight through it until the pain was no longer bearable .. and it started turning blue. Something was obviously very wrong so the team performed an MRI in Cleveland this morning. The MRI showed a muscle tear and will require surgery.

The surgery will end his 2010 season but GM Theo Epstein is positive that Youk will be 100% for his offseason workouts. That is good news but doesn’t mean much for this year’s team. A team, that is struggling to get their head screwed on right as 5 of their 8 Opening Day starters have hit the DL this season.

Mike Lowell, who returned Tuesday night with a bang and a 2R HR, will get a good amount of the starts over at first base. Other options for the club are Victor Martinez and Jed Lowrie. Unfortunately none of these guys are likely to put up the numbers that Youkilis has so far (3rd in the league in OBP at .411 and 5th in OPS at .975) If Epstein’s pre-season plan of defense and pitching doesn’t start coming to fruition then October is going to be a long month as all of us Sox fans watch the Yankees and Rays enjoy the postseason.

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