Get your World Series tickets! Only $96,000 each!

Tickets to Game one of the World Series at Fenway Park, between the Boston Red Sox and the St Louis Cardinals are available at $96,000. Please note you are currently limited to a maximum of 24. If you could have your $2.3 million ready before you click 'Buy', that would be great.

The Red Sox are contesting the World Series
starting Wednesday night

The World Series starts Wednesday in Boston, and the home town Red Sox are marginal favorites to take their third title since 2004. Should a body fancy attending this potentially momentous event, the super great news is that there are approximately 2,000 tickets available for the game, mostly through re-sellers such as StubHub.

Plenty of World Series tickets available

The slightly less great news is that the tickets are selling for around the $96,000 mark.

Let's let that sink in for a second.

$96,000.

$96,000 tickets

We have contacted StubHub to ask if anyone actually purchases tickets that cost just a shade below $100,000, we will update this post when and if they reply.

In the meantime, brother, can you spare a dime, or $96,000?


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Strikeback Sunday: Big Papi drives the Red Sox back from the brink

On a spectacular sports Sunday for Boston fans, perhaps the biggest moment of all came with one swing of David Ortiz's bat.

Big Papi loses one in the bleachers

It will go down with the great, iconic Boston Red Sox moments of years gone by. Essentially no matter what happens through the rest of this Boston and Detroit series, the home run that David Ortiz hit last night will be remembered for a long, long time.

No point in teasing you, if you haven't seen it as yet, here it is.




Incredibly, this was the fifth time Big Papi tied or gave the Sox the lead in the eighth inning or later in the postseason. Most players would be happy to do that once in their career. For David Ortiz, it's beccoming something of a habit. "It seemed like old hat for Dave," catcher David Ross said. "I would have been like a little school girl running around the bases if I had would have done that. And he trotted around like it was nothing."

The Big Papi home-run trot

For the Tigers, it was a perfect storm that unravelled on them in the 8th inning. Many in Detroit will be second guessing manager Jim Leyland’s decision to remove Max Scherzer before the inning even started, despite the fact he was on 108 pitches. The relief pitchers who followed all failed in some form or another: Veras, Smyly, Alburquerque, Benoit and then finally Rick Porcello in the 9th. Their failure burst the balloon that was Detroit's bullpen superiority for the series. Every single one of those guys will be pitching with doubt in his mind after last night, particularly Benoit.

Finally, former Boston defensive whizz Jose Iglesias gave his former team a hand by attempting a tricky throw, trying to get Gomes at first when he should have put the ball in his pocket, as they say. Fielder’s pathetic attempt was lazy, sure, but ‘Iggy’, as they called him in Boston, should never have made that throw.

It is amazing how the overall picture of a series can change, with a couple of pitches, a couple of swings and a bad throw. Just like that Boston are going to Detroit with a huge swing of momentum to ride on, while the Tigers have to pick up the pieces and see what they have in terms of fortitude.

What a night of sporting moments in Boston, none bigger than the blast off of Papi's bat.

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Red Sox fan wakes from coma upon hearing his team are in first place

A lifelong Red Sox fan who was involved in an accident in September 2012 and went into a coma, woke suddenly and unexpectedly as relatives discussed the Red Sox first place standing at his hospital bed.

Red Sox - winning

A Boston man who has been in a coma since being involved in a bad traffic accident back in September 2012, has woken suddenly from the coma during a conversation between his relatives at his hospital bedside. Relatives of the man described the man jolting up in bed upon hearing that Boston are now 9.5 games ahead in the American League East. As the man woke slowly in front of family and friends, his first question was ‘How are the Yankees doing?’ to which a relative confirmed that New York are 12.5 games out in the East and in danger of missing the playoffs. The man, John Fitzgerald O’Shaughnessy, 34 of Charlestown, Boston, Massachusetts, fainted immediately and had to be revived a second time.

Eye witnesses say Mr Fitzgerald then listened quietly at first as friends and family slowly described how Boston, so bad in 2012 and 2011, are only a couple of wins away from officially clinching the AL East title, and now among the favourites with bookmakers to win the World Series. Reports go on to say that Mr Fitzgerald then began babbling ‘in tongues’ and had to be calmed by hospital staff.

After a short period of relaxation a somewhat calmer Mr Fitzgerald heard that the Red Sox consensus best starting pitching of the last couple of months has been John lackey, to which he replied; ‘’Okay guys, stop f*****g around, now you’re just f*****g with me.’

Mr Fitzgerald is expected to recover fully from his injuries and commented that after reading a few articles in the Boston Globe and Boston Herald on the Red Sox, he will eventually check how his wife and three children are doing.

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Watch 4-year-old Darla Holloway sing "God Bless America" at Fenway Park (VIDEO)

Tired of reading about Miley Cyrus's latest moronic stunt? Jaded hearing about which drugs Aaron Hernandez may or may not have been into?  Watch 4 year old hero Darla Holloway singing "God Bless America" at Fenway Park and have your faith in humanity restored somewhat.

4 year old Darla Holloway - a better role model than many of today's 'stars'

Let's face it, we are surrounded right now by athletes, entertainers and other stars who are not worthy of the title Role Model. They are all around us and they are given exposure completely and utterly disproportionate to their true value to the human race.

It's safe to say most of us are completely jaded right now.

Every so often something simple, pure and worthy of our attention does actually come along, and something along those very lines occurred at Fenway Park in Boston last night.

The Boston Red Sox host a variety of stars and regular citizens nightly at Fenway during a traditional seventh inning rendition of the song "God Bless America''. Last night Darla Holloway, a 4-year-old girl battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia, stepped up to the plate, figuratively speaking, and, did this.



No fuss, no drama, and excuse the language but, no bullshit either. Just an honest, beautifully accurate and heart rousingly stirring rendition of an old song. It doesn't matter what your politics are, it shouldn't even matter what the song was, and it definitely shouldn't matter if you are a Red Sox fan or not. Little Darla is a true role model, and, an amazing little girl.

This, contextually, is a terrifically cathartic experience after the initial internet\entertainment start to this week.

You want to say 'More please', however as the great Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh once wrote;

We have tested and tasted too much, lover-
Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder.

.. and he was right, something special like this will only come along once in a while. So just enjoy it, soak it in, and think about little Darla and her bravery, as opposed to all the other trash the media is trying to sell us right now.

What a little star.

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Do the right thing, Alex

As we approach another long, drawn out Alex Rodriguez 'situation', the much maligned slugger can do the baseball loving World a favour and lay down arms, surrender and try his hand at something else

. 

It's all about A-Rod

By now you probably have a general idea of the basics. If you are an adult male aged 17-70 and are in possession of an Internet browser and a pulse, you are probably a quasi-expert on the latest A-Rod situation. You have no choice really but to be, because once again A-Rod is holding us hostage to his unique brand of fraud, drama and bullshit.

In short, A-Rod is in trouble yet again. His name has been linked in the same report that ‘got’ Ryan Braun, the Biogenesis scandal (no, this has nothing to do with an alternative rock band started in the 70s by Peter Gabriel, this is all about needles and drugs).

The battle lines have been drawn and the first volley of shots are about to be fired. Word is MLB, frustrated by A-Rod’s refusal to take a plea bargain type deal for a lesser sentence, are prepared to throw the proverbial book at the goofy slugger. Apparently commissioner Bud Selig is prepared to use Article XI, Section A1b of the collective bargaining agreement “to effectively keep Rodriguez from ever returning to the field by bypassing the grievance procedure outlined in the joint drug program [that] MLB operates in conjunction with the Players’ Association,” Rodriguez would be suspended immediately for violating the “integrity of the game” and would later get a suspension for violating the drug program. MLB are not only accusing A-Rod of ‘roiding up’, they are also accusing him of intimidating witnesses and buying documents that incriminated him, rather than letting them fall into the hands of investigators.

In short, A-Rod is up to his neck in filth, and MLB wants to absolutely slate him for it.

The initial word from the A-Rod camp is he is going to fight the entire process every single inch of the way.

That’s A-Rod all over though isn’t it? All through his career A-Rod has been about himself first. His stats, his ‘legacy’, his money. It is no coincidence that he has been hated by players and fans alike at every single club he has played for.

Make no mistake about it, every single fan base he has graced with his reverse-Midas touch carries a special kind of hatred for the man. Whatever you do, don’t mention the name A-Rod to Seattle Mariners fans. If you recall, they showered the money grabbing slugger with dollar bills when he showed his face in Seattle after leaving for one of his many big pay days. His own team-mates in Texas openly mocked him, giving him a couple of nicknames, take your pick from ‘Bitch tits’ or ‘The Cooler’. The latter is the perfect description of A-Rod at the time, alluding to the Vegas hey-day ‘coolers’ that pit bosses employed to ‘cool off’ hot tables.

In other words, A-Rods team-mates in Texas nicknamed him based on his ability to cool off a rally.

They weren’t exactly showering him with love now, were they?

New York? A-Rod has been through the full range of emotions with both the fans and his team mates in New York. The Yankees have thus far successfully managed to protect their clubhouse details, however previous leaks have suggested A-Rod is basically on his own in there, having taken on Jeter and others once too often. The fans? If A-Rod does come back, his first 0-10 stretch will show us how the fans in the Big Apple feel about A-Rod.

Spoiler alert: Boo!

Perhaps no fans base detests A-Rod with more gleeful passion than Boston’s, and with understandable reason too. Need we remind you of the time A-Rod tried to slap the ball out of Arroyo’s mitt? Being so entrenched together in the AL East, RedSox fans have had a front row seat to the daily circus that has been A-Rod’s reign of terror in New York. Boston and Toronto fans don’t often see eye-to-eye however, the night A-Rod shouted ‘Got it!’ as he rounded third in Toronto, that night, we were all Blue jays fans.

Could A-Rod perhaps make something useful out of this and call his amazing ability to unite disparate fan bases against him a positive thing? A tangible skill?

As we cruise headlong towards this undoubtedly horrific car crash that will be MLB v A-Rod, round 12, you have to wonder, what kind of happiness or enjoyment could the latter be getting from this dance, at this stage? Sure, he is obviously going to fight this to protect his 'earnings' for the next few years, however, A-Rod already has enough money to buy Saudi Arabia. How on earth does he think this is going to end well, and why is he seemingly happy to go head to head with Bud Selig and his goons, and fight a long drawn out battle where his name will be, once more, dragged through the mud. 

Wouldn't A-Rod be saving a lot of people, himself included, a lot of time and effort, if he just called a halt to the madness and stopped trying to pretend he is clean. 

We all know you are filthy A-Rod, straight up dirty.

Do the right thing Alex. Retire. Go away, go spend your money and let us enjoy our game again, without having to suffer through another one of your introverted, painful stunts.

A-Rod - he's boring himself at this stage

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The flaws in the plan: Despite record, Redsox need change to compete

The Redsox may have just won the series against their arch rivals New York and may own the best record in Major League baseball, however big changes are required if they are to be competitive in the playoffs

Mike Napoli wins the night

Yes, the end of the Yankees series came with a happy ending. Yes, Boston owns the best record in all of baseball. And yes, a series win against Tampa this week would provide a little separation from the AL East pack. However, all of this comes with a massive caveat. The fact of the matter is, the Redsox will not be doing anything meaningful in October unless they make some serious changes before the trading deadline passes.

We’re not talking small changes here. Sure there are plenty of tweaks that can be, and should be, made, however the below is a list of changes that simply have to happen if the Redsox are to be competitive going into the 2013 MLB playoffs.

Three things in particular need to happen.

The bullpen needs the addition of at least two outstanding arms. The pen held up admirably over the weekend, however it represents something of a creaking old ship, which could sink at any moment given a slight change in conditions. Right now the only Sox bullpen piece you would truly trust in October baseball would have to be Koji Uehara. Nobody ever won a World Series with a bullpen that consisted of Craig Breslow, Junichi Tazawa, Matt Thornton, Drake Britton, Pedro Beato and Jose De La Torre. It is simply not possible. The two Andrew’s, Bailey and Miller, are enormous losses and the Sox have to replace them. Uehara is an effective and indeed exciting closer, but the Sox need a couple of power, swing-and-miss arms as a bridge to the high fiving closer, or they are not going to be winning anything of note in 2013.

We’re not talking ‘nice prospects’ coming up from the minors here. We’re talking impact, game winning arms. Jonathan Papelbon and K-Rod (Francisco Rodriguez) would appeal. Both are available also, with the Phillies and Brewers having effectively nothing to play for this season.

Papelbon is basically the same as when he departed Boston, with a few more miles on the tyres. He is still effective, and would obviously fit right in to the team and the town itself. K-Rod is intriguing. His velocity is down but he is still throwing 90-93 with a cartoon curve ball and the savvy of a veteran pitcher his age. He would be a welcome addition as a setup man or possibly even closer, although it is debatable if he is an upgrade on Koji or not.

Second, the Redsox have to trade for a front line starter. Again, similar to the bullpen issue, we’re not talking ‘nice’ 4th or 5th starter here, no young up and comers need apply. We’re talking second or third rotation piece preferably. Having said that, why not aim high? Chase an ace and see what you come up with. Let’s face facts, the Redsox rotation is a nasty, sloppy mess right now, held together by smoke and mirrors. The current ace? John Lackey, and deservedly so, he has been showing Sox fans exactly what he can do when healthy (and slim!). After that?

Brandon Workman is a nice, high upside, starter for the future but he is a 4th or 5th spot starter in the rotation at best. More cannot be expected of him at this early age.  We are not talking a Ryan Dempster type either here. Dempster is doing his admirable best, but if Boston are going up against the finest arms in baseball in October, with Dempster starting, we’re in trouble. The Sox won last night because they scored 8 runs, not because of Dempster, who did, to his credit, stop the Yankees from cashing in on some early base runners. We need more come October however.

Jake Peavy would be interesting, is throwing 91/92 and knows his way around a 7 inning quality start. He would fit in beautifully behind Bucholz with Lester and himself fighting over the 2nd spot in the rotation. Cliff Lee might be available, and the Sox should at least kick the tyres on that one, to see if anything is going. Whilst we’re dreaming, even someone like Felix Hernandez has a price. Seattle could no doubt be blown away with the right package.  The point is, the Redsox need top notch starting pitching, and they need it now.

Finally, and we hate to stick the fork in here, but the Redsox need a catcher.

Unless the Redsox bury Jarrod Saltalamacchia in the 9 hole and put stock in his admitted ability to handle the Sox diverse pitching staff, they are not going to get any further value from Saltalamacchia. He basically has two things going for him, every once in a blue moon he steps into a poorly located fastball and parks it in the bleachers, and as we said, he does appear to be good with the pitchers.

Apart from that, he is basically useless. Saltalamacchia cannot stop a running game, and his attempts to do so are increasingly embarrassing. His bat is completely ineffective particularly recently. In the last 30 days Saltalamacchia has hit zero home runs and has a paltry 9 RBIs in 66 at bats. His average of .240 in that spell sums him up perfectly. Not absolutely awful, but, close.

We do have to be somewhat careful here as it is important that a team’s pitchers trust and indeed ‘like’ their catcher, and the Redsox pitchers seems to hold Salty in high esteem. Perhaps the Sox could, as we said, bury Salty in the 9 hole and hope his influence on the pitchers is worth his black hole offensive stats.

The fact is though, an impact catcher who can fill up the 6 or 7 hole in the order with authority, would push the Sox closer to being a contender.

And, at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about, right? Winning this damn thing.


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Was the Anibal Sanchez trade worth it for the Redsox?

Last night Anibal Sanchez struck out 17 Braves. As he shines for the Tigers, Redsox followers have to consider, was the 2005 trade that sent him and Hanley Ramirez to Florida worth it?

Anibal Sanchez in his Redsox minor league days

Mention Jeff Bagwell and Redsox fans old enough to remember shudder involuntarily. Bagwell was a hot prospect in the Boston minor league system until he was traded for the somewhat-less-than-immortal relief pitcher Larry Anderson in 1990. Anderson played but one season in Ye Old Towne. Bagwell went on to smash 449 home runs in a glittering Major League career. That trade has quite literally haunted an entire generation of Redsox fans.

Last night Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez submitted a Pedro Martinez like performance in striking out 17 Atlanta batters in just 8 innings during Detroit's 10-0 win. Where do Boston come in to the picture? As recently as 2005 Boston traded both Sanchez and Hanley Ramirez to the Florida Marlins for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell.

Immediately after reading that you can ascertain that the trade was nothing as poor for Boston as the Bagwell debacle (from the talent mentioned). However, if it wasn't an absolutely terrible trade, then what was it for the Redsox? Good, bad or in-between?

First things first, the trade accomplished exactly what Boston wanted in the short run. In 2007 the Redsox added another World Series title to the one they won in '04, and both Beckett and Lowell were a huge part of that victory, and both were the toast of the town.

Josh Beckett, already something of a favourite in Boston for leading the Marlins past the Yankees in the 2003 World Series, set the tone with a dominant game one outing, striking out 9 batters and generally over powering the Rockies. Mike Lowell ended up with the Series MVP award (and to this day continues to be a wildly popular Redsox player, even in retirement).

How did the major two Sox farm system trade pieces pan out for the Marlins? Sanchez is full of promise, as indicated by his 17 strikeout showing last night. Hanley Ramirez is a bit of an enigma. He has fallen out with managers for a perceived lack of hustle, and has spent a considerable amount of time on the disabled list also. Put it this way, despite his, ahem, massive talent, he is no Jeff Bagwell. Not yet anyway.

There is also another element to consider from the Redsox point of view.

In the great Boston clear-out of 2012, the Sox front office managed to get away with dumping the enormous salaries of Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett on the Dodgers. Not only did they get rid of questionable clubhouse personalities, they also cleared up a huge chunk of free-agency change for the 2013 season.

Apart from the financial success of the trade with the Dodgers, Boston also managed to land a few decent players in return (Allen Webster and Rubby De La Rosa look like particularly tasty pitching prospects in particular).

So, adding it all up, after trading away Sanchez and Ramirez, Boston won the World Series, eventually dumped Beckett's big salary, and have grabbed at least two excellent prospects through doing so.

Anibal Sanchez is going to be a decent-to-good front-line starter for the Tigers for the next 5 years, however, adding the fact that Hanley Ramirez can't stay healthy and taking into consideration how Boston got the most out of Beckett and Lowell, you can really only come to the conclusion that the trade was definitely still very beneficial for Boston.

One thing you can definitely say, it was also definitely no Bagwell situation part two.

No one can deny Beckett got the job done in his early Boston days

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Former Patriot lineman Joe Andruzzi comes to the rescue at Boston Marathon - VIDEO

The Superbowl champion offensive lineman Joe Andruzzi comes to the aid of a stricken runner

The city of Boston was struck by tragedy on Monday, on a day normally set aside for the celebration of sports. Patriots day is a huge day in Boston, one of the greatest sporting cities in the World. You all know about the New England Patriots, the Boston Red Sox, the Boston Celtics and indeed the Boston Bruins. Those legendary teams are but the tip of the ice berg. Boston is also home to the world’s oldest and some say the most prestigious marathon, and it is also home to some of the finest collegiate teams in all of the United States.

The city of Boston eats, breathes and lives sports. This of course makes yesterday’s tragedy all the more palpable, all the more painful. The perpetrators chose the Marathon as their target, thus striking at the very heart and soul of the city of Boston.

Last night, as the city struggled to come to terms with the events of the day, sports took something of a back seat. With a massive (offensive line-man sized) caveat. The Boston Bruins sensibly postponed their NHL game last night, to ensure that a large crowd didn’t gather in such trying circumstances. The Boston Celtics also cancelled their Tuesday night NBA game in advance, for the same, sensible reasons.

Sports will, however, be a major part of the healing process. Boston’s athletes are already chiming in, en-masse, to support the citizens of Boston.

One former Boston athlete has already provided tangible support the likes of which few could imagine, and perhaps fewer still would actually act on.

Joe Andruzzi was an excellent and popular offensive lineman for the New England Patriots. He played 122 games in the NFL and was a Patriot from 2000-2004, winning a stunning three Superbowl rings with the team. Joe comes from a family full of Patriots, all three of his brothers were at one stage New York fire-fighters, and all three acted with heroism on 9/11. Yesterday, among the chaos, Joe wasted no time to throw himself into action. Spotting an injured woman clearly in distress, with family members clearly frozen by fear, Joe grabbed her up and brought her to safety and treatment.

Joe Andruzzi and Marathon tragedy victim

Last night the quiet, unassuming man-mountain released the following statement;

“Marathon Monday should be about uplifting stories, personal challenges and fundraising milestones, but today’s bombings irrevocably changed that. While I appreciate the interest in hearing our perspective on today’s horrific events, the spotlight should remain firmly on the countless individuals — first responders, medics, EMTs, runners who crossed the finish line and kept on running straight to give blood, and the countless civilians who did whatever they could to save lives. They were the true heroes. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by this senseless tragedy.”

Joe’s quiet, effective, passionate heroism is a striking statement on how sports can help a community rebound from tragedy. There is no doubt that sports will help Boston back onto its feet. Thanks in part to the outpouring of emotional and physical support from its athletes, past and present, Boston will rebound back stronger than ever before.

Here's the ESPN report on Joe Andruzzi's involvement:




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The Boston Red Sox open 2013 with a bang

The Red Sox showcase surprisingly effective youthful talent and a diverse, powerful range of bullpen arms in shocking 8-2 opening day win in New York

Jon Lester kept the Yankees swinging and missing all day long

Coming into the 2013 MLB season most seasoned Boston Red Sox fans were basically hoping for a tiny glimmer of hope. After the abject disasters of '11 and '12, Sox fans were basically hoping that the team would be somewhat competitive and would show some signs of life to cling on to going forward.

The message appeared to be, 'Guys, just don't embarrass yourselves.'

Well, if yesterday's outing in the Bronx is anything to go by, this Red Sox team might exceed all expectations, even the loftier ones. The Sox young, diverse team didn't just beat the Yankees, they crushed them. The 8-2 scoreline was actually flattering to the Yankees.

The hosts for the afternoon looked old, tired and flat. The Yankees highly paid veteran 30-something club watched from the bench (Jeter, A-Rod, Granderson and Texiera, all injured) as Jon Lester and the Red Sox simply cut through Yankee stadium like a knife through butter.

The two starters for the day embodied the entire story. Spring outings for Jon Lester suggested he might be reacting well to the appointment of John Farrell as Red Sox skipper. His velocity is up, his mechanics no longer look an issue and his sparkling competitive edge of old seems to be back. Meanwhile, CC Sabathia looked old, tired and anything but an opening day ace. While Lester regularly hit 94/95 mph (even as high as 97), Sabathia struggled to maintain 89, hovering around the 88/87 mark.

Whatever about Lester's dominance, the story of the day was no doubt the emergence of Jackie Bradley Jnr, Boston's dynamic, exciting 22 year old rookie outfielder. The road to success in the majors is littered with the decaying corpses of over hyped young players that didn't make it, however Bradley appears to have all the tools, the demeanour and perhaps most importantly the support to cut it at this level.

He was a constant thorn in the Yankee's sides, and proved a wild hit in his first Major League start.

The Boston bullpen was another glossy bonus on opening day. Obviously there is a long way to go, but the Red Sox showcased a very diverse selection of arms yesterday afternoon, with an exclamation mark of power behind the gun-slinging convoy of talented bullpen crew. After Lester held the Yankees down, the bullpen kept their collective foot on the Yanks throat. A combination of Uehara, Miller, Bailey, Tazawa and finally Hanrahan kept the Bronx Bombers to just the one hit.

Hanrahan showed a tantalising glimpse of what might be a solidifying of the closer position in Boston for the first time since Papelbon took his circus to Philly.

All in all, a very gratifying day for Boston fans. Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of all is that the bar for the 2013 season was set so low that even a small percentage of yesterday's outing carrying over the rest of the season would mean a year that could probably be deemed a success.

The Red Sox celebrate winning game one against the Yankees

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Manny Ramirez makes his debut in Taiwan

Believe it or not, Manny Ramirez is now plying his trade for the EDA Rhinos, a Taiwanese team in the Chinese professional baseball league.

Yeah, this is going to end well. Manny being Manny, in Taiwan.

This is not a dream. This is reality. Manny Ramirez, yes, that Manny Ramirez, is now playing professional baseball in the Chinese baseball league. He is playing for the EDA Rhinos, one of the four Taiwanese teams that ply their trade in the Chinese Professional Baseball League. Ramirez is earning the equivalent of approximately $25,000 a month to play, although you can bet there are other benefits. For example, we doubt he is paying for his accommodation and there appears to be some sort of ‘daily stipend’ involved, which is probably bigger than you or my monthly salary anyway.

Put it this way, we highly doubt Manny Ramirez is playing baseball in Taiwan and China for $25,000 a month alone.

Manny has his debut under his belt now, making it all official. In this historic encounter (anything involving the words ‘Manny Ramirez’ and ‘Chinese baseball league’ in the same sentence can be called historic) the Rhinos lost to the ‘Brother Elephants’ (once again, this is not a dream, this is all reality) 8-9. Ramirez went 2 for 6 with two singles. The capacity crowd of 20,000 Rhinos fans greeted his every move with a fondness and admiration normally kept for puppies doing something cute.

Manny’s first hit in Chinese professional baseball came in the second inning. We have it for you right here, and yes, you are welcome.








What does Manny make of all this? There are unconfirmed reports that the dreadlocked slugger and former World Series winner thought his agent said 'Toledo' (not Taiwan) and agreed to the deal on that basis. Whilst this report is not confirmed, this is the same player who once sent a car out for valet service with over $250,000 in uncashed pay checks in the glove compartment.

So, you do the maths.



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Alfredo Aceves still causing headaches for the Boston Red Sox

You may have noticed the Boston Red Sox are doing their utmost to change their club house environment for the better. They have been bringing in ‘high character’ type players all offseason long. The team is clearly trying to send a message, move on together, and get away from the ’25 guys, 25 cabs’ mentality that prevailed over much of the last two seasons in Boston.

This apparent change to in-house culture obviously hasn’t been completely finalised as yet, as one massive, glowing, shining neon light of potential disaster is still emanating from one of the lockers in the Sox clubhouse. Alfredo Aceves is no stranger to controversy in Boston (or anywhere else, for that matter). He apparently simply refuses to toe the line of a ‘team first’ mentality, and seems to have a burning desire to stand out via the medium of outlandish actions and incidents.

Most recently, in fact just this Sunday past, Aceve’s ‘Dark Passenger’ emerged to wreck a simple spring training bullpen session, Batters watched bemused as Aceves tossed light ‘eephus pitches’ at them, an exercise that would basically have zero benefit for a grand total of nobody involved. Selfish, childish behaviour from the man who basically has become the Julian Tavarez of this version of the Red Sox. It took intervention from pitching coach Juan Nieves and manager John Farrell to finally rectify the situation.

The odd thing is, if Aceves wanted to cleverly fight this latest charge of being a malcontent, he could have argued that the eephus pitch is actually a part of his pitching arsenal. He does legitimately throw them. Having said that, no batting practice batter wants to see that type of pitch employed regularly, and to that end no matter what way you colour it, Aceves’s actions were selfish.

You would really think Aceves would be more careful. We’re not talking the second coming of Felix Hernandez here. Aceves went 2-10 with a 5.36 ERA in 84 innings last season, something just about anyone with a pulse could have done. Boston has buckets of bullpen depth in spring training camp, so there's no guarantee Aceves will get a roster spot if he doesn't appear 100%  committed to the cause.

At the end of the day, if the Red Sox do trade, cut or otherwise dispose of Aceves, he has one person to blame and one person only.

Himself.

He has been given more chances than the average ball player to fit in, and has basically rejected these chances by continuing to act in ways detrimental to the overall team goal. Aceves may be amusing and he may also be an effective and indeed rubber armed relief pitcher, however when he behaves like this, which is far too often, he is a complete cancer to the Red Sox. They say they are turning the page and bringing in ‘character’ guys to change the club house ethos. Aceves provides a test of exactly that.

If he is still on the Red Sox roster come opening day, it would be nothing short of a huge shock.

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The New Youk Yankees -- Former Red Sox legend Kevin Youkilis shaving his goatee off and donning pinstripes for the 2013 MLB season

Former Red Sox legend Kevin Youkilis

Just in case you were hiding under a rock this week, here’s some news for you. Former Red Sox legend (I think it’s safe to say that) Kevin Youkilis will be shaving his goatee off and donning pinstripes for the 2013 MLB season. That’s right. Youkilis is becoming a Yankee.

 Cue the inevitable uproar across the Internet

Bands of angry Red Sox fans roaming the net holding virtual vomiting contests to see who can claim the greatest distaste at the news. Packs of angry Yankee fans flexing their spray tanned muscles roaring at each other in a contest to see who is the most outraged at this signing.

The veritable landslides of virtual ignominy don’t change two simple facts.

Firstly, Kevin Youkilis must be applauded at every at bat in Fenway Park. If any so called Red Sox fan spends a half a second even thinking about booing Youk, that same so called fan should be ejected from the park immediately. Preferably violently, or at least in humiliating fashion. Seriously, if you are at Fenway and you are standing beside someone who boos Kevin Youkilis on his return to Fenway, you have my permission to sucker punch them in the side of the head. There better not be one single solitary ‘boo’ when Youk comes to town. Seriously.

Secondly, on the plus side of the equation, this is the Yankees doing what the Yankees do. Signing high priced, ageing veterans. In this case, they are signing a high priced, ageing veteran to replace (at least temporarily) another high priced, ageing and also breaking-down veteran (Gee, gosh, I wonder, why on earth is A-Fraud breaking down before our very eyes?! What could it be!?).

Until Josh Hamilton signed with Anaheim for eleventy gazillion dollars (and substance abuse rehab centers across Anaheim held wild celebrations) the Youk signing was the big MLB news of the week. In actual fact, it wasn’t that big a deal. For the Sox, nothing should change, Youkilis should always be cheered at every single at bat at Fenway ever. For the Yankees, it’s just Yankees being Yankees, signing old players for a lot of money and then acting shocked when all their hamstrings break and they have no money left to sign more fat old players.

Now, let’s all enjoy some actual real comments from actual real Yankee message boards. Looks like New York will be welcoming Youk to town with open, cuddling, warm, charming and loving arms, as only New York can.

• ''Washed-up third basemen no one wanted to sign are now worth $12/year apparently.''
• ''This made me vomit a bit, but it is the only move out there. Should be a fun season...''
• ''Call me thrifty, but isn't $12 Million a little steep???''
• ''As a Yanks fan I would have rather them use Pena at 3rd and deal with no hits rather then watch his hitting stance all year.''
• ''I think the Yankees would better served lighting $12 million on fire and having no one cover third while taking an out every 9th at bat.''
• ''He hit .233 in Boston and .236 in Chicago, is there something I am missing here? .258 batting average in 2011 as well. Time spent on the DL in both seasons. ''
• ''Yanks need Hamilton. What is wrong with Cashmen WHAT''
• ''at least he wont be allowed to have that awful f#@&*#^ beard''
• ''This is beyond disgusting, the only two Red Sox players or now ex Red Sox players I hate more than Youkilis are Beckett and that $@%!$@% Papelbon. He is on the decline and was never more than a walk machine, he is not enough to replace A-rod for half the season especially since he is also coming off an injury plagued season and is 33.''
• ''Against all odds, the Yankees get even older. With the apparent signing of Ichiro, the Yankees will be better suited for softball in Central Park. Everyone in the division is getting younger and better, except the Yankees who are getting older and worse. COME TO YANKEE STADIUM, WHERE EVERYDAY IS OLD TIMERS DAY.''

 

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Former Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine taking chances with Ortiz comments

You may have seen former Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine’s comments on David Ortiz the last 24 hours and thought to yourself, ‘so what, it’s just Bobby being Bobby, right?’. Well, apart from the fact the Valentine now appears to be alienating one of the few Red Sox players that actually backed him in the clubhouse, Bobby is also risking legal action by his former employees.

What’s all the fuss about? Basically in an interview on NBS Valentine called Ortiz’s desire to play through injury out. The quote is pretty damning, however, judge for yourself.

"David Ortiz came back after spending about six weeks on the disabled list and we thought it was only going to be a week. He got two hits the first two times up, drove in a couple runs; we were off to the races. Then he realized that [the team's trade with the Dodgers on Aug. 25] meant that we're not going to run this race and we're not even going to finish the race properly and he decided not to play anymore. I think at that time it was all downhill from there."

Whatever way you read it back, it would appear Valentine is throwing Ortiz under the proverbial bus. If that’s the case, it is a shocking move even by Valentine’s standards. As all Red Sox fans know, Ortiz is a proud man, and will not take these comments lightly. The manager versus player aspect will play itself out eventually, and Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe dissects it all knowledgeably here, however, there is another potential thread to this storyline that could come back to haunt Valentine.

The more eagle eyed of Sox fans will have noted how polite Valentine was as he was shown the door. He was throwing verbal bouquets at everyone and everything associated with the Sox, without as much of a snide aside tacked on. Not exactly the Valentine we became used to in his single, disastrous year at the helm of the good ship Fenway.

As it turned out, Valentine had to sign a ‘No mudslinging’ clause to his contract, meaning he couldn’t say anything bad about the club after leaving. The Red Sox front office possibly foresaw potential issues in the case they did have to jettison Valentine, and had the clause put in place. Valentine would not have got a cent of his millions of dollars of severance money had he not signed, and subsequently obeyed.

Here’s the thing, will the Red Sox see this rather obvious attack on Ortiz as an attack on Boston as a whole, and therefore a very clear break of Bobby’s contractual obligation not to slander his former club?

If he keeps this crap up, can Boston get their severance package back off of him?

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Analysis of a disaster: Meet the 2012 Red Sox club-house trouble makers

One of the first things that basically dragged me into the World of loving the Boston Red Sox was the superb level of in-depth journalism around the team. I remember sitting on a beach in Cape Cod in ’93 reading about Ken Ryan’s fastball and Johnny Val’s potential and devouring it all hungrily. Nothing has changed, although the out-put from the 'Knights of the keyboard' (as Teddy Ballgame dubbed them) might be a bit more negative the last couple of seasons in particular.

The scribes are still as incisive, however, none more so than the Globe’s Pete Abrahams, who really gets dug in to his task as beat writer to the Sox. There is a really interesting, short and yet illuminating piece by him in the Globe online today, in which he praises several players for being a pleasure to deal with. Basically he breaks the clubhouse down into three parts. Those who were a pleasure to deal with, a secondary level who he makes a point of saying were also easy to deal with, and then a pointed few who he doesn’t mention at all.

Mr Abrahams obviously has to be careful about who he chastises for being difficult to deal with, assuming they are back next season and assuming he is covering the Red Sox in 2013. However, it can’t be ignored that he named so many players and left a small number out in the cold as it were.

You be the judge.

Abrahams’ first group;

‘’But Ortiz, Pedroia, Ross, Aviles, Melancon, Will Middlebrooks, Clay Buchholz, Andrew Bailey, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Felix Doubront, Franklin Morales, and Scott Atchison were especially patient and friendly.’’

Then the second tier:

‘’So were Rich Hill, Andrew Miller, Aaron Cook, Craig Breslow, and Daniel Bard.’’

Now, for those absent from the list.  Do we assume these individuals were impossible to deal with? Do we assume they were the opposite of the above players, in other-words, impatient and unfriendly?

Notable absentees from Pete’s list of those above are;
Alfredo Aceves, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Vincent Padilla, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jose Iglesias, James Loney, Ryan Lavarnway, Daniel Nava and Scott Podsednik.

You can excuse Dice-K on the basis that even now he seems a fish out of water in America. For whatever reason, he just hasn’t fitted in. Iglesias, Loney, Nava, Podsednik and Lavarnway can all be excused also as short-timers and rookies and so forth.

That leaves a short-list of Aceves, Ellsbury, Lester and Padilla.

In effect, the most embedded and detailed Red Sox beat writer has isolated and nominated Aceves, Ellsbury, Lester and Padilla as the most difficult players to deal with in 2012, the least patient and the least friendly. Aceves and Padilla are no shock. Their toxic behaviour means they might have a hard time getting another job in baseball, let alone the Red Sox.

Lester is a tough one to swallow. Before this season he has always been a pillar of the Red Sox community. To see him isolated as one of the problems is both shocking and sad. Whatever is going on in that young man’s mind, you can only hope he figures it out and returns to being an ace on the mound, and in the Boston club-house too.

Ellsbury’s exclusion from the good list, and inclusion in our bas list, is a complete head scratcher. Did he just not get on with the writer? Or was he actually a club-house cancer, as is basically suggested. It is very hard to tell from afar, however it would appear he certainly rubbed at least one writer up the wrong way, enough to be sent a sack of coal as opposed to making the ‘nice-list’.

What we can take from this most of all is, the Red Sox club-house had plenty of good apples, a few bad ones, and that Pete Abrahams is a pretty ballsy writer, willing to (basically) come out and identify those very same bad apples.

One thing is sure, that 2012 Red Sox season could not end soon enough.

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ESPN goes out of its way to skewer Red Sox skipper Bobby Valentine

So apparently a part of sports journalism is now to get your size elevens on someone's throat and keep it there until they are done, finished, kaput, finito. ESPN, the self anointed World leader, nay, the Universe leader in sports reporting has taken an apparent grim satisfaction in keeping the hammer down on embattled Red Sox skipper Bobby Valentine. As Bobby has fought to keep his job, and as his team have fought off journalistic attacks that would make the carpet bombing of Vietnam in the 70s look tame by comparison, ESPN has gleefully taken any shred of drama and exploded it nine fold in a British tabloid like attempt to stretch the most out of any stories.

Last night Valentine made a comment about the state of his team. Here is how ESPN translated it.

So, judging by that, Valentine is basically throwing his team under the bus, absolving himself of all blame, acting like some kind of selfish son of a gun, right?

Not so fast.

ESPN has gone wildly out of its way, like some kind of Chinese government official chopping and changing headlines on decadent Western newspapers to make them Communist friendly. What Bobby Valentine actually said was the following;

“Are you kidding? This is the weakest roster we’ve ever had in September in the history of baseball,” Valentine said before last night’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays. “We could use help everywhere.”

Can you see the subtle yet vital difference? By chopping and hacking at the quote and turning it into a dramatic couple of words, ESPN has left Valentine out in the wind, open to yet more attacks from angry fans who don't understand or read the full comment.

Obviously ESPN can do what it wants, and it is their prerogative to 'sell papers' as it were, however the ugly thing about this is the manipulative way ESPN is trying to manipulate us, the readers.

It's sad, tacky and, you know what, pretty juvenile on their part.

Surely you are better than this level of shoddy, shock tactic journalism, ESPN?



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Fenway Sports Group taking it from all sides as the Red Sox and Liverpool continue to fail on the field

The Fenway Sports Group (FSG) which has its fingers in a number of sporting pies, is under a level and weight of pressure it has never experienced before. In Boston, the Red Sox are absolutely reeling right now, sinking faster than even last season’s September demise. They just got absolutely pounded in Oakland, a team which it has out-spent by eleventy billion dollars this season. They are being swept out of every city they visit, and they appear to be very much a ship without a rudder. Meanwhile, Liverpool were unmasked 0-2 at home in front of their ever faithful fans by Arsenal, a talented team no doubt, but a team that had failed to score in their previous two games.

Well, the natives are restless. In Boston, several elements of the media are quick to accuse the FSG of being distracted by their Liverpool venture, whilst in England, many Liverpool fans are sadly resorting to basically racist criticism, suggesting ‘The Yanks’ don’t know what they are doing.

Much of the criticism is unfair and also unfounded. Clearly FSG is ‘in it to win it’, in terms of both the Red Sox and Liverpool also. People in Boston in particular have forgotten very quickly that FSG have turned the fortunes of a cursed, moribund franchise around very quickly, taking the team to the pinnacle of success twice in 2004 and 2007. The jury is out on their Liverpool venture thus far, however given time you have to assume they will at least turn the fortunes of ‘The ‘Pool’ around relative to the years preceding their entry to the game.

In Boston, the local Knights Of The Keyboard, are gleefully finding new ways to poke fun at FSG for, thus far, failing to turn Liverpool into instant champions. The general line goes that John Henry and team are only being distracted by the frivolous venture in England. The accusation is basically that they are somehow distracted by their ownership of Liverpool.

Those same writers are obviously ignoring the number of serious corrections and amendments FSG has clearly made to attempt to address the issues that have arose in the last season plus. You cannot blame FSG for Josh Beckett suddenly morphing into the Ghost of John Wasdin, morbidly dishing out 91mph ‘fastballs’ that get lost in the Fenway bleachers. You cannot blame FSG for Lester, Buchholz and the rest of the Sox rotation not pitching up to their ability. Kevin Youkilis was enduring a horrific batting slump before he was shipped to Chicago, can you blame FSG for that? They have clearly attempted to address each and every issue that has arisen, dramatically so in the case of the Gonzo\Beckett\Crawford trade.

How can anyone keep a straight face and accuse them of not acting, when everything they have done since they have taken over in Boston has been directly related to trying honestly to improve the ball club? They may not be perfect, but you cannot accuse them of sitting on their hands and not acting.

To do so is just lazy.

In terms of Liverpool, it would appear they are working very hard to completely rebuild the club, with an emphasis on young, talented players like the clearly gifted Joe Allen and the exciting Raheem Sterling. You could argue that not over-spending on a 29 year old player with high salary demands (Clint Dempsey) was absolutely in line with their desired approach and path to future success. Liverpool may be lagging behind at time of writing, however they are actively trying to build a youthful, talented squad. This is in direct comparison to, for example, Manchester City, who’s model for success has seen them spend over £700 in order to basically purchase the title.

The Manchester City model is potentially a recipe for disaster, if UEFA and Michelle Platini follow through on their ‘Fair Play’ rules for entry to the Champions League in 2014. Platini’s new rules will bar teams like Manchester City, that cannot ‘balance their books’ without rich owners dumping hundreds of millions of oil money to solve their problems, from entering the Champions League.

 Liverpool are one of the few teams, particularly one of the few big teams, that are actively trying to maintain their books in a manner that will mean they will succeed under these new fair play rules, and frankly that should be applauded.

Another simple, somewhat related note, John Henry, the principal owner of FSG, cannot be accused on not caring about his Liverpool adventure. He is a frequent attendee at Anfield and indeed ‘road’ games, and has clearly thrown himself into the project. Take that for example against Manchester City’s Sheik boss, who attended a grand total of two of City’s games during the Premiership winning title run last season. He watched the final game on TV, no doubt whilst being fed grapes by Norwegian lesbians in his billion dollar, air conditioned palace.

As a fan, which owner would you prefer, the one who comes to plenty of your club’s games, or the one who watches (occasionally) from afar, and treats your club like some kind of expensive car, to show off in conversation with other rich oil baron’s on their million dollar yacht moored in Monaco?

Chastise FSG all you want for the mistakes they have made, mistakes they often themselves admit to (Carl Crawford, Andy Carroll), but let’s draw a line under the silly accusations that FSG aren’t trying their best to make things better in both Boston and Liverpool.

Neither distraction nor inactivity are the problem.



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The L.A. Dodgers represent great World Series value at 12/1

In case you were hidden under a rock, buried deep in episodes of The Kardashians or blinded by endless naked Prince Harry pictures, you should probably know that sometime between Friday and Saturday the Red Sox and the L.A. Dodgers pulled off probably the biggest single trade in MLB history. The Dodgers gave up a group of prospects (including the wonderfully named Rubby De La Rosa) whilst in return Boston shipped off Adrian Gonalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and (don’t forget!) Nick Punto. A simply stunning trade in its sheer magnitude, particularly the incredible $260 odd million dollars of salary The Red Sox West Dodgers are committing to by taking on those high priced veterans.

Boston’s media and fan-base are literally reeling from the shock, the former have nothing to write about anymore, and the latter simply stunned this is happening. Perhaps conditioned by weeks, nay, months of negative Front Office bashing by The Knights Of The Keyboard (as Teddy Ballgame sardonically called Boston’s sports media), Red Sox fans were under the impression the Front Office at Fenway Park had no clue how to run a Major League ball-club. As it turns out, their timing was absolutely impeccable and they have managed to not only drop those $260 million in wages, they have also changed the club-house attitude completely. There is still some work to do, obviously, however right now the future looks definitely brighter and clearer for the Red Sox. The fans are delighted by and large, the media, well, they are a little stunned.

Meanwhile, flying somewhat under the radar, are the Dodgers. The L.A. Dodgers have gone from something of an after-thought to a legitimate World Series contender in a very short space of time. Magic Johnson and his co-owners have signaled their aggressive intent with the Hanley Ramirez pickup, they have now literally engaged afterburners and left many an opponent in their wake with the arrival of Beckett and most of all Gonzalez. The Dodgers line-up, already awesome, is now a veritable Murderers Row for opponent pitchers, who are basically going to have nightmares every night before taking on this lot. Consider, for a second, the core of the Dodgers lineup on a nightly basis. Kemp\Ethier\Ramirez\Gonzalez is a simply scintillating three through six, perhaps superior to anything else in baseball, NL and or AL. Seriously, look at those names, and imagine for a second being a middle level pitcher trying to navigate their way through those four, back to back to back to back. Then throw in pesky leadoff guy Shane Victorino and other parts like Nick Punto, and you can understand the ferocious, other-worldly potential of this Dodgers lineup.

Of course with the addition of Josh Beckett the Dodgers have also upgraded their pitching staff. Beckett will provide experience, depth, and, for my money anyway, wins. He did not turn into a bad pitcher overnight. He can still bring a fastball, and still has a burning desire to win every single battle with every single batter. Beckett is going to love pitching in the wide open expanses of Dodger Stadium, which make Fenway Park look roughly the same size as a tiny little panic room. There are going to be a lot of fly balls to left and center in particular that turn into outs for Beckett, reducing his ERA, his WHIP and his stress levels.

Say what you want about Beckett, he tells it like it is, and has been brutally honest about his own performance when asked about it on the Left Coast. Take these comments for example;

“I’m as big a part of that as anybody. That’s not what they wanted to do. They wanted Adrian to stay. They wanted me to stay. They wanted Nick [Punto] to stay. They wanted Carl [Crawford] to stay. We just didn’t do our jobs.”

He is clearly invigorated and ready to, frankly, be awesome again. Beckett was a huge fan favourite in Boston just two seasons ago. It all fell apart in a short space of time, but the good people of L.A. will probably end up loving the big Texan, particularly if he puts up a few wins for them between now and the World Series.

Speaking of the latter, our overall point is that right now is the time to get on board the Dodgers bandwagon. A few weeks ago the Dodgers were as high as 25/1 to win the World Series. With the addition of Hanley Ramirez, they moved in to 20/1, and now suddenly with the big trade there has been a further market adjustment, all the way in to 12/1 or 14/1 with some establishments.

For me, this adjustment still is not big enough. You are telling me that 12/1 isn’t incredible value for a deep pitching staff, a good bullpen and a simply superb, out of this world lineup? We’re talking value here. We aren’t suggesting for a second that the Dodgers are 100% locks for the trophy, however you cannot deny that at 12/1 they represent superior value, considering the sheer talent of the pieces they have added recently.

The Dodgers are building something special for the short term. The bookmakers have not fully adjusted as yet. Find a way to get on the bandwagon, and enjoy the ride.

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