Do Players Have to Answer to their Wives when they get Fined?

I think about weird things sometimes.

Take Brandon Workman. I actually don’t think he’s married. But, what if he was. Can you imagine the discussion when he gets home after being fined?

“I was fined today”

“Why?”

“Someone was mean to David.”

“So you got fined? And Mr. Moneybags didn’t?”

“Yup.”

“He damn well better be sending you a big check as a thank you!”

Now, I know that the monetary scales are off a bit. But, it’s still a chunk of change right? Even if it’s the equivalent of someone making $50 grand a year being fined $50, isn’t that a big fine for something stupid?

Jonathan Papelbon was once fined $10 grand or so because he didn’t get from the bullpen to the mound quickly enough. A delay of game sort of thing. He had to go home and tell Ashley that. Was she ticked?

Can you imagine coming home from work and telling your wife you were fined $50 because you walked too slow when you were called somewhere?

What would the reaction be?

Even if they make so much money that the fine’s not exactly taking food off the table. It’s costing something, right? A new sweater? New car? Extra vacation?

Isn’t that annoying to them?

Especially for a young kid like Workman?

Collecting the Sox: Dunkin’ Donuts

Happy Donut Day!

I’m going to start this off with a question. People collect items dealing with corporations all the time. Coca-Cola collections and Ford Motor Company collections are everywhere. You even get to say you collect “Disneyana” if you collect things dealing with a certain company.

Why did I find it odd to think people would collect Dunkin’ Donuts items?

To be fair to myself, I’m not sure that anyone actually does collect them. But, it really shouldn’t seem weird to me. Maybe it’s because I don’t see all that much merchandise around very often.

But, that doesn’t mean you can’t collect it. Even your Red Sox collection can have a “Dunkin’ Donuts” theme.

Really.

I’ve talked about collecting Red Sox magnet schedules. Just about every one that I’ve seen has proudly displayed the “Dunkin’ Donuts” logo. Thankfully it’s not the focus of the magnet. But, if you collect the Sox and DD, there’s an item for you.

In 2004, they even printed a special magnet that retold the playoff results for the new World Champions. Naturally, their logo was right there on front.

I remember them handing out posters one year. They were very well done. I have the Jonathan Papelbon one hanging on my ceiling.

Their cups have been known to feature the Red Sox as well. I’m sure there are many other items that you could go after as well. In store promotional items perhaps?

They also have a fairly prominent sign in Fenway. What if you collected pictures, or baseball cards, that showed that sign? That would definitely add focus.

Clearly, if you love the Red Sox and you run on Dunkin’, there’s a collection just waiting for you. Most of these items are pretty cheap. The ones I’ve talked about were given away, as a matter of fact. Variety is certainly there. Since many of these items will be “in the moment” it also naturally has that “traveling through time” aspect that I require from any collection. Heck, I can travel back to any year I want by looking at the Dunkin’ Donuts magnet schedule. What a great collection.

What’s in your Dunkin’ Donuts collection?

Sizing Up Sizemore

The Red Sox outfield hasn’t been performing well lately.

To be kind.

There are arguments as to whether it’s the worst outfield in ten years, or fifty years. Some of that is due to injury. Some of that is due to underperforming. And, some of that is due to Grady Sizemore.

Since the Sox signed him, he’s been a question mark. Could he be healthy? Could he still play? Could he contribute? Could he help the team? So many questions.

When do we need the answers?

At what point do the Sox decide that he’s just another player hitting .220, and not formerly one of the best players in the game? Many people have pointed out that if the names were erased, he’d be the one who had to spend time in Pawtucket, not Nava.

Can you erase the names?

Probably not. All things being equal, don’t you have to give the guy who’s shown the ability to do it before the chance to do it again? Yes, I know that Nava had a great season last year. But, Sizemore had several elite seasons before. What the Sox need to do is decide if he can do it again.

Is he still hurt? Doesn’t look like it. Although, they know better than I. Is he rusty? I’m sure he is. I bet those first few weeks were just luck, or the fact that he saw a lot of fastballs in spring training. Or, something along those lines. Can someone come back from 2 years off to regain their form? Why not? People come back after missing a year all the time. Look at John Lackey. Sure Sizemore’s older than he used to be. But, he’s not old. He’s only 31, which is still in his prime. This isn’t Manny trying to come back after a year off. If he’s healthy, he should be able to return to some resemblance if his old self.

If the Sox can wait for it.

Right now, they don’t have much choice. It’s not like they’re benching an all-star waiting for the real Grady to show up. All the outfielders are playing terribly right now. Might as well keep trying Sizemore to see if it all clicks. Because if it does, it will be completely worth the wait.

Especially since there’s no real downside at the moment.

That Answers That

I guess I have an answer to my previous question.

Obviously, the Sox weren’t as bad as the ten-game losing streak would suggest. Nor do I imagine there’s as good as a seven-game winning streak would suggest. But, it certainly changes the conversations.

After all, they’re still leaving runners on base. It’s still a function of the fact that they’re getting runners on base. We just don’t mind so much because they’re driving more of the runners home first. The pitchers are also giving up runs. But, they happen to be doing it in amounts that don’t exceed the number the Sox score. It’s all falling together nicely.

What does the future hold? For this week, for instance?

We’ll have to see

I like what the winning streak will do for the confidence levels of the team. Think Bogaerts will worry if he goes 0-3 tonight? Not when he can look back on the tear he’s been on over the last week or so.

The other thing that the winning streak did was get everyone past the injuries a little bit more. Victorino and Napoli have been able to heal without costing the team victories.

Losing also affects things like the bullpen. Naturally, during the losing streak, they were worked a little harder than they were over the last ten games. So, even possessing the knowledge that the Sox will, in fact, lose a game at some point, I feel that they’re in a better position than they were.

I wonder how long the ride will be.

From the Pedro Binder

2000 Upper Deck Checklist

I’ve said it before. Card companies aren’t completely stupid. They know that stars drive the product. Even a product like the 2000 base set. While they know they’re supposed to have cards of every reasonable player in the league, they know that’s not what gets people to buy the packs. They need cards of the superstars. At some point, they realized that checklist cards are a great way to do that.

I have to admit, the old style checklists cards confuse me. Who thought it was a good idea to commit a card from the regular set just to be a checklist? Do other things do that? If you’re collecting bobbleheads, they don’t make one that just has a checklist of all the other bobbleheads. Why do it for card sets? What a waste? I’m glad that they now have moved to just having the checklists being “inserts” in packs, like junk mail. If you want a checklist, here it is. But, you’re not missing out on a card of a back-up catcher because of it.

This is another way to go. Make it an opportunity to get another Pedro card into the set. Even better. It probably means that there are more checklist cards than there would have been, since you can only use one side of the card. But, it makes the cards worth getting. I’m sure that there are some player collectors who would balk at having to collect a Pedro card that wasn’t really a Pedro card. But, I’m not one of them.

This is a simple card, naturally following the base Upper Deck design. It has everything I’d want to see on a card. Name, team, position. It even tucks the Upper Deck logo off in the corner. All of that leaves plenty of room for a nice big picture. All that adds up to a great card.

Especially when it’s an “extra” Pedro in the set.