I Scored! April 8, 2008

It’s a weird place to start a scorecard tour, but look at the notes section in the lower left. It really tells you all you need to know about the game. “Home Opener/Ring Ceremony.” The rest of the game is secondary to the ceremony that took place beforehand. To the right of the notes section, it gets even better. The weather is listed as “Sunny, 60 degrees.” So, it was a beautiful day in the bleachers to watch a game and a ceremony.
Leading off the game is the Rookie of the Year, Dustin Pedroia. It was great to be able to cheer Pedey right away for all his accomplishments. It looks like he didn’t want to repeat his slow start of the year before. He was able to grab two quick hits in this game. It’s interesting, though, to see who wasn’t leading off. Not only wasn’t Jacoby Ellsbury in the lead-off spot, he wasn’t even in the starting line-up. Even after he almost won the World Series MVP, Coco Crisp had the starting role in the home opener.
Some other things that stand out? Manny Ramirez had a triple. Yes, he must have had his wheels going right from the start. He even managed to score on an error. Manny used his speed and hustle to create a run. Imagine that. Julio Lugo also had a heck of a game. Really. Julio Lugo. Right there at the bottom, two for four, with two runs scored. Might have been his best game in a Sox uniform. I also love Daisuke Matsuzaka’s line. Four his and four walks in almost seven innings. But, he struck out 7, and didn’t give up a run so he got the win. If that’s not classic Dice-K, I don’t know what it. Baserunners all over the place, but enough strikeouts to stay out of trouble. He had 17 more games just like that one in ’08.
To top it all off, the Sox won the game in shutout fashion. Delcarmen and Okajima pitched great to close out the win. Youkilis drove in two runs, and scored a third. It was pretty much the same line-up that won the championship only months before. They looked well on their way to another great season.
And the scorecard shows how it happened.

Can I Quote You on That?

In the end, it all comes down to talent. You can talk all you want about intangibles, I just don’t know what that means. Talent makes winners, not intangibles. Can nice guys win? Sure, nice guys can win-if they’re nice guys with a lot of talent. Nice guys with a little talent finish fourth, and nice guys with no talent finish last. – Sandy Koufax
So, I guess Sandy Koufax doesn’t care about Derek Jeter’s calm eyes then, eh?
Of course it all comes down to talent. It doesn’t come down to heart, no matter what Trot Nixon or Dustin Pedroia fans like to tell you. It doesn’t come down to effort or being a “dirt dog.” It comes down to being able to play the game, or not. If you can’t hit a curve ball, that’s the end of it. You can try to hit a curveball. You can really want to hit a curveball. You can get all your teammates excited about hitting a curveball. But, if you can’t hit a curveball, you’re going to make outs.
That’s also why “clubhouse cancers” keep getting jobs. They have talent.
I think it was Bill James who once pointed out that most of the people promoting qualities like “clutch hitting” or other intangibles are announcers…who are often ex-players. He pointed out that it would be in a players best interest to convince people that not only were they simply lucky to be born with superior athletic ability, but they are better mentally too. They would love to imply that they’re not just blessed with amazing size or talent. They’re also better people. But, it never really made much sense. Is it really just the effort that makes a great player? Is it just the ability to stay calm? Is it the ability to play nicely with others? Wasn’t Babe Ruth kind of a butthead?
So, I’m content knowing that I’m not a Major League baseball player because I’m not talented enough to be a major league baseball player. It’s not that I didn’t try hard enough. It’s not that I didn’t want it enough. It’s not that I wasn’t nice enough to my teammates. I didn’t have the talent. I have talents in other areas, just not in playing baseball.
Sandy Koufax sure did though.

2009 Scavenger Hunt Reminder

OK. We’re getting pretty close now. Red Sox pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training on February 18^th. The Scavenger Hunt will end, therefore, at NOON Eastern Time on Feb 18^th. That means you have exactly two weeks left to get your pictures in! I’ve had several people e-mail me to let me know they were scoping out items. I can’t wait to see all the pictures. If you can’t remember the items you needed to find, or any of the rules click here or on the link to the right to find them.

So, keep taking those pictures. Remember, even if you’re a fan of another team, you can enter!

Happy Picture Taking!

Happy Groundhogs Day!

Well, once again those crazy people in Pennsylvania got up entirely too early in the morning to drag a groundhog out of its makeshift home. And the weird part is…they do it even though the groundhog is almost always wrong.

This year, the prediction is for six more weeks of winter. Clearly, that’s way off. As anybody knows, spring will begin on February 18 when pitchers and catchers report. That’s only two and a half weeks away! In six weeks, the Sox will have already played fifteen spring training games. In six weeks, the Sox will be playing split squad games against the Rays and Astros. That’s not the start of anything. That’s things already in full swing.

Oh well, I guess it’s just a groundhog.

36 Questions

Where do athletes get each other’s phone numbers?

It comes out a lot during the offseason. A free agent will get a call from someobody convincing them to join their team. Or the free agent will call a player on a team he’s interested in and ask him about the team or the city. It makes a lot of sense. But, how do they get the number?

It happened recently with the Mike Cameron signing. The asked him about the fact that he was a centerfielder, and Jacoby Ellsbury also plays center field. Cameron said that he called Ellsbury to talk it all over with him to make sure he was ok with it. Who gave him the number? Does Cameron ask Theo? Does he say, “Hey I’d like to call Ellsbury to talk it over…can you give me his digits?” Does Theo just hand them over? Does he pull the old, I’ll call him and give him your number? Is it really a conference call with Theo in the room to make it all professional? What if Jacoby doesn’t want to give his number out? What if he thinks Cameron is a jerk and doesn’t want him knowing where he is? What happens than?

And that’s a simple example involving two players with a common thread in the same sport. What about across sports? I remember when Nomar Garciaparra had his wrist surgery. It was reported that he called a member of the Bruins who had had a similar surgery to talk about the recovery with him. Who gets Nomar that number? Does he call the Bruins Customer Service number and ask? Does he happen to have a common friend? Is there a “Boston Area Sports” phone book somewhere that I don’t know about? Why does Nomar have access to this discussion when I don’t? Just because he’s famous, other famous people agree to talk to him? If I have wrist surgery, can I call Nomar up to see how he dealt with it?

My favorite example, though, is Peyton Manning. When he was a junior in college, he was trying to decide whether or not to leave school early. Tim Duncan, had faced a similar decision, and decided to play out his college career. So, Manning called Duncan to talk it over. Who on earth was the match-maker in that one? This college punk wants to call the NBA rookie of the year. Can we make that happen? Manning wouldn’t have an agent who knew people. Did the AD at Tennessee know the Wake Forrest AD and go through it that way? Again, is that option available to everyone? If I’m a college junior, and wonder if I should drop out to work on my family farm, can I call Manning? If I have wrist surgery while in college, can I set up a conference call with Manning and Nomar? If I wanted to talk to a random accountant or engineer, I wouldn’t have any idea how to get their number. How on earth do you break into the inner circle of a professional athlete?

How do I get my hands on that phone book?