Collecting the Sox

There are some obscure Red Sox collectables out there. There are even some obscure food collectables out there. You can have cereal boxes and wine bottles. Those are pretty obscure. But, I think the John Valentin Sweet Hits Baseball Classic Candy made by Necco takes the cake.

I don’t know why these cadies were produced. The presence of the Jimmy Fund logo on the box implies it was a charity endeavor. Perhaps a portion of the proceeds went to the Jimmy Fund. Maybe Necco does these regionally for sports teams all over the country. The plainness of the box would certainly make that easy. Just replace the pictures of Valentin with Scott Brosius, and you have a candy made for the NY market.

The plain box also gives no clue as to what is inside. Are these like regular Necco wafers? The “classic candy” portion of the name certainly implies this. Or, did they get creative and make them look like baseballs? The options would have been almost endless. I’ve never had any of these candies. How did they taste? How would they taste today? Will they stay fresh in the box forever? Would you know if they got stale?

Whatever they were for, and however they taste, they are a great Red Sox collectable. What a perfect conversation starter. Any new guest to your Red Sox room could be offered some John Valentin Neccos. And, the conversation begins.

Has anyone ever had one?

Is it Springtime?

I was talking to a fellow Red Sox fan recently. He said he couldn’t get too worked up about the Sox. He couldn’t find anything to yell and scream about. He wasn’t plastering blogs with comments. The Sox juggernaut was just too good to worry about. I couldn’t agree more.

It feels like Spring Training. I can’t bring myself to hang on every game. They lost tonight? Oh well. They’ll probably win tomorrow. The Yankees gained a game? The Sox will get it back in due time. Their fifth starter had season ending surgery? Who needs a fifth starter? The trade deadline is approaching? Who cares? They don’t need any help anyway. The Yankees might get another starter? They’re still not as good as the Sox. It’s very unsettling. I’m going day by day hoping for no injuries, just waiting to play the Phillies in October. It’s quite unsettling.

Am I alone in this? Is there something wrong with me? The other night, Andrew Miller got roughed up. The Red Sox won the game. Lackey got beat up on. He still got the victory. Why would I worry about them? Why would I stress over them? It’s almost more fun to see how many runs a pitcher can give up and still qualify for a win.

Sure, this is just a hot stretch. You never get an entire line-up rolling at the same time like these guys are. But, can I bring myself to worry about a slump? I’m sure they’ll have another stretch where they lose six in a row. Although, it wouldn’t shock me if they didn’t. But, with a commanding lead in a potential wild card race, even that isn’t anything to get worked up about. It will pass, and they’ll make up whatever ground they lose.

I could worry about a season-ending road trip. But, the way it’s going, those last six games are going to be meaningless anyway. I got nothing.

I’ve always said that the big difference for me between 2004 and 2007 was my attitude during the playoffs. When the Sox were up 3-0 in the 2004 World Series, I was worried. Part of me just knew that the only reason they had historically come back from a 0-3 hole was so that they would blow their own 3-0 lead the very next series. In 2007? They were the favorites. The best team in the league. Of course they would come back when they were down 1-3 in the ALCS. It was just a matter of playing the games. It was breezy. It was easy. I could just sit back and enjoy the ride. That’s the way I’m looking at this season.

I’m just enjoying the ride.

Happy 36th!

Today we wish a very happy 36^th birthday to Shea Hillenbrand. Shea played third base for the Red Sox during the 2001-03 seasons. While unremarkable, his time with the Red Sox did have a few memorable moments.

He started his Red Sox (and major league) career with a bit of a hitting streak. He even earned the nickname “Hit-a-Day Shea” for a while there. I was fortunate enough to see him contribute to that streak with a single in his last at-bat during the 2001 home opener.

The second highlight I’ve already mentioned when I Scored his game-winning three run home run off Mariano Rivera on April 13, 2002.

But, the thing he may be remembered most for is being traded for Byung-Hyun Kim in 2003. This trade impacted the team in many significant ways. It ended the “closer by committee” concept that was never given the fair chance it deserved. It also started the BK Kim era in Boston. It was a rocky tenure for Kim that included flipping the bird to the Fenway fans. But, most important, the trade opened up some playing time for both Bill Mueller, and David Ortiz. Mueller would win the batting title, and Ortiz would club 31 home runs leading the Sox into the playoffs. Both would, of course, play key roles in the 2004 world championship. The trade of Hillenbrand really represented the shift of focus to those two key players.

So, as much as anyone not in a Sox uniform during the 2004 season, Shea Hillenbrand was an important part of the championship. For that, we need to wish him a happy birthday.

Happy 36^th Birthday Shea Hillenbrand!

Three Game Sweep, Three Game Lead

It was almost a perfect weekend. The Red Sox did exactly what they were supposed to do, and even got some help from an unlikely source.

I know. It was the Mariners. When a team hasn’t won in forever, you can’t feel too good about beating them. But, the Sox didn’t make the schedule. So, the only thing they can do when a weakling show up is beat them. And, that’s exactly what they did. They toyed with the Mariners. They even let a game be close before running away with it. They took down their two aces. Took them down in flames. It was pretty remarkable. Even more exciting was the Yankees loss to the A’s this weekend. Always good to be able to pick up a game when the Yanks are playing an easier foe.

Of course, all that good feeling can run away in a hurry tonight. This game is huge on many levels. You don’t need me to tell you that. Jon Lester comes back in an impossible situation. The Sox are hosting the Kansas City Royals. It’s his first action in a couple weeks. One could imagine he’d be rusty. But, facing the Royals he’ll be expected to dominate. What happens if he’s not sharp? What if he gives up four runs in six innings on the way to a win? Will it be OK because he was rusty, or not OK because he should have dominated the Royals? It will be an interesting game to watch. Especially this close to the trading deadline. If he struggles, does Theo move towards getting a pitcher? It could be a complicated week for the Sox.

I would be remiss if I didn’t congratulate Tim Wakefield on the 2000^th strikeout of his Red Sox career. That’s quite an accomplishment. In fact, it’s been accomplished only one other time, by that other guy. He also grabbed his 199^th career victory. It would be wonderful if he could pick up number 200 this week at home. It would be a special moment to share with the Fenway fans.

But first, the Sox need to wrap up tonight’s little big game.

Red Sox 1-36: 2 is for…

The 2 World Championships won by this ownership group.

Who would have imagined? I thought it was pretty cocky of them when they released their mission statement. “5. To end the curse of the Bambino and win World Championships…” Ending the drought would have been enough. But, to add the “s” to championship was just for show. Except that it wasn’t. Similar to the way people are talking about the Cubs these days, I had heard talk during the previous ownership that the Red Sox would never win as long as fans kept coming to the park. Why spend money on your team if you’re already selling 95% of the tickets? Well, this group showed why. The additional 5%. They’ve sold every ticket they had for the last 8 years or so. They showed it was possible to not take the fans for granted. As a result, good things came.

I sometimes get labeled as a tad hypocritical when I use this group as an argument against the salary cap. Don’t get me wrong, I still think there needs to be a cap. But, I find it hard not to allow this group to benefit from their efforts. They didn’t move the team. They didn’t build a new ballpark. They didn’t do anything drastic. They just did a better job. They created the cash cow that the Red Sox are now from the same starting place everyone else has had for the last 100 years. And, because of that, they were able to sign two $100 million players in a single off-season. That’s just a job well done. The amazing thing is, they knew they could do it from the beginning. The original idea was to buy the Red Sox, improve them, and then flip them for a profit. Basically, they saw that fans were flocking to the park even as the ownership group was spitting on them. Imagine if they just stopped spitting. So, when it comes to a salary structure, I have a hard time not rewarding the ingenuity and implementation that created it all. They certainly deserve it.

2 is for 2 Championships from this ownership group…so far.