Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Hangover ice cream is a genius idea!... Just saying but the Red Sox magic number to win the AL East is now just 115... Heh heh... Sorry but Red Nose Day makes me think that men should have a Hold Your Balls Day where men go around all day holding their balls to raise awareness about testicular cancer. Both days would be equally silly in their marketing... Oh crap... I detest Wade Boggs. The only reason his number got retired by the Red Sox last night is because Peter Gammons has been lobbying ownership to do it for the past decade... Too soon?... According to the Bible - Noah's ark would have been about half the size of the Titanic. Thank God Noah didn't run into any ice bergs... My hat's off to the parents of this young man. Fantastic!... Too bad Charles Bukowski's Beer Shits is too long for a fantasy baseball team name... Heh heh... Is there a bar called the Vodka A Go Go? If not I call dibs... Scientists think they've finally figured out what the appendix actually does...

Johnny Pesky

There isn't a true Red Sox fan out there who wasn't saddened by the passing of Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky. Peter Gammons does a great job explaining why Pesky was so special.

One story I haven't seen told in any of the testimonials since his passing is how Pesky almost quit on the Red Sox in 2003.

It's well known that in 1997 Red Sox GM Dan Duquette told Pesky he was no longer welcome on the Red Sox bench. This was done at the request of clueless manager Jimy Williams. This indignity lingers in the minds of Boston sports fans just one step below Rick Pitino stripping Red Auerbach of his ceremonial title of President of the Celtics. Pesky was able to out-wait Williams and the new John Henry led ownership restored Pesky to his rightful place at Fenway Park and at spring training. Pesky even outlasted Duquette who was fired by John Henry et al. The balance of where Johnny Pesky belonged in the Red Sox world was restored.

Then came the horrible year of 2003 which is recalled by by most Red Sox fans of first Pedro being left in an inning too long by Grady Little and then Aaron Bleeping Boone hitting a season ending HR off Tim Wakefield. But 2003 was also the year Johnny Pesky almost quit the Red Sox.

First came the ruling from Major League Baseball and Bud Selig that Pesky would no longer be allowed on the bench during games. Then the Red Sox traded his favorite player - Shea Hillenbrand. Pesky was so upset by the trade that he wanted to quit on the Red Sox but Hillenbrand talked him out of it.

The fact that Pesky will be eulogized by Selig - the guy who kicked him off the Red Sox bench while the guy who kept him from quitting the team he loved will be mostly forgotten just doesn't seem right to me.

Mets Won't Be Selling to David Einhorn Afterall

When I saw the news that the Mets will not be selling a minority share to David Einhorn I got that something stinks in Denmark feeling.

Einhorn thought he had a $200 million deal with Fred Wilpon and the Mets. He had entered into a agreement that had an exclusivity period but was non-binding. The Mets need cash because they were victimized by (though some say complicit with) Bernie Madoff. It should be noted that the Mets have a pretty cozy relationship with baseball commissioner Bud Selig. At around the same time the Mets were having financial difficulties - the Los Angeles Dodgers were also having a financial meltdown. Frank McCourt, the owner of the Dodgers, doesn't have the sort of cozy relationship with Bud Selig that Fred Wilpon enjoys.

The $200 million infusion from David Einhorn would have stabilized the Mets franchise. One wonders if the existence of this non-consummated deal allowed the Mets to borrow cash to get them over the rough spots (and one wonders if that cash could have come from MLB). The story I linked to say that Mets ownership has "provided additional capital to cover all 2011 losses." Really? Where did this cash magically come from? The Mets ownership clearly did not have the money back when they first entered into the deal with Einhorn.

With Einhorn's cash giving the Mets cover - the commissioner was free to force the hand of the Dodgers by basically having MLB take over the team. Now an offer for the Dodgers for $1.2 billion is leaked. And at the same time the Mets get money from nowhere and decide to unilaterally change the terms of the deal with Einhorn to a point where they know they won't be acceptable. The whole thing reeks.

I could be wrong about this but I still think the situation stinks of tangled webs being weaved out of the commissioners office.

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

I have to laugh at all the regular baseball writers who have written about wondering what Curt Schilling will say about his 1-hitter on his blog 38pitches.com. I'm amused by all the writers talking about Schilling's blog for 2 reasons; 1. it is tacit confirmation that it is better to hear direct from the athlete himself without the filter of a sportswriter and 2. Schilling hasn't posted anything yet but all the people going to his site to check to see what he has to say must be really driving up his traffic numbers. The same scribes who belittle Schilling and his blogging are helping to make his site more successful... People think that Manny Ramirez has been slumping (and according to his usual numbers he is) but after hitting .327 in May and .423 so far in June - his season batting average is up to .288 and climbing... The Red Sox are lucky not to be seeing Brandon Webb in this series against the Diamondbacks. I'd rather see Randy Johnson every day of the week than see Brandon Webb... John Donovan has a nice take on Bud Selig and MLB being intent on "putting the screws" to Jason Giambi to speak honestly and openly to George Mitchell and his committee. I think this has more to do with trying to punish Giambi for breaking the MLB unwritten rule of omerta than getting to the truth. Just remember that Selig was the guy who signed a full page love note in USA Today to Rafael Palmeiro in July of 2005 when Palmeiro got his 3,000th hit even though Selig KNEW that Palmeiro had failed a steroids test in May of 2005. Donovan makes an excellent point that maybe Selig is pressuring Giambi because they know something the rest of us don't and they can use that as leverage. You have to remember that speculation is that Giambi was honest with the BALCO grand jury in large part because they also had something on his brother Jeremy. Supposedly Giambi's "honesty" helped keep any criminal charges off his brother. Maybe Selig has similar dirt to use against Giambi?