Stay Hungry with a side of snark

In today's column, Nick Cafardo shoots down the idea of players playing well in their contract years, but then lists a bunch of Red Sox - primarily David Ortiz - who should have good years because they're out to prove their worth for a big payday after 2010.

I'm glad Cafardo - whose work I do respect despite today's snark - thinks that Ortiz, Josh Beckett, Adrian Beltre, Jonathan Papelbon, Victor Martinez, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Bill Hall will be motivated by dollars to have big years. But am I naive to think that contract status is a minuscule part of a formula that determines success?

If I am, then so are John Henry and Theo Epstein:

"I'm not really a believer in the theory that players can play at another level in their contract years," wrote Sox owner John Henry in an e-mail. "I think our players generally give as much as they have over 162 games. It's a long, long season. Sometimes it may not look that way because they often play injured - more often than people think, because a lot of injuries - especially nagging ones - you never hear about."

"I've never studied it myself," said general manager Theo Epstein, "but the data I have seen does not suggest a consistent pattern."

Further confounding the argument is that Cafardo cited a Maureen Mullen MLB.com report that Dice-K ditched his regimen at the Arizona Performance Institute for a week:

Dice-K spent a week there in December and is continuing his training there this month, although he unexpectedly took this week off, according to a source. The time off is not believed to be injury-related.

That doesn't sound like he's too hungry, unless he was literally hungry and took off to find something to eat. At least this topic put Stay Hungry, one of my favorite Twisted Sister songs, in my head, a vast improvement over some of the songs that have been rattling around my noggin this weekend.

More snark: Over in Phillies-land, we can rest assured that with Opening Day 64 days away, Placido Polanco is "working on third-base skills." And I thought he was just going to wing it at a position where he logged about 330 innings in 2003 to 2005, but none since.

By the way, that was not a knock at Matt Gelb's report. At least he's writing. Whatever happened to Andy Martino?

[Photo credit: Wikipedia]

Oxymoron of the day: pitching surplus

The other day, Jan Leno asked Massachusetts' next senator, Scott Brown, who should be the odd man out. He said "probably" Tim Wakefield or Daisuke Matsuzaka.

It was a politician's waffle, but also underscores the fact that the Red Sox have six legitimate starters for the five-man rotation. Earlier in the week, Wakefield, the eldest of the group, said he shouldn't be dismissed:

I did make the All-Star team last year. It seems every year, and I don't know why, my name gets brought up like this when I don't feel I need to prove myself every day. I don't know where the rumors are coming from, but I try not to pay attention. I know my role and I know what my approach is going to be when I get to spring training: be a starter and help us win the World Series.
[...]
Hopefully they respect me enough to give me the ball when we get to spring training as a member of this rotation. I think I've earned the right to be a full-time starter and go from there.

I'll endorse him over Dice-K, but I'm certain that if the Red Sox choose another option, Wake will accept his assignment and "help us win the World Series." He might speak his mind, but he won't hold a no-questions press conference in the stands and then refuse to speak about anything but the game for the rest of the season.

I think Wakefield is just speaking his piece, but Christine disagrees and thinks we could see a repeat of the Jamie Moyer situation, especially because Wakefield is already throwing out the word "respect." We'll see what happens.

Unless we never need a sixth starter, as Theo Epstein pointed out:

I've been around teams that had deep starting pitching on paper and by the time you get to the season, you can't find a starting pitcher to take the ball. I don't see that as a problem. I see that as a potential asset. It's not worth wasting time thinking about it or talking about it unless or until you get to a point during the regular season when you have more than five guys who are healthy and can do a good job starting. We're not at that point right now.

He doesn't have to look far for an example. Last year, everyone was raving about the Red Sox rotation that was more than six deep: Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Tim Wakefield, Clay Buchholz, Brad Penny and Dice-K, plus John Smoltz was preparing to join the team midseason.

Those seven made 145 starts. Wakefield was a first-time All-Star but then missed the second half with injury. Buchholz established himself in the second half but first had to reprove himself in the minors. Dice-K missed most of the season because he was poorly conditioned, injured and valued the World Baseball Classic more than his paying gig. Smoltz and Penny were awful and released.

The other 17 starts went to youngsters: Justin Masterson (six), Junichi Tazawa (four) and Michael Bowden (one). A not-so-young Paul Bryd had the other six starts last year, proving the cliche that there is no such thing as too much starting pitching.

Fast forward to October

Yesterday, the focus was on the spring. Today, it's on the fall. Baseball Prospectus did its projections, and the regular season won't be needed. The SoxandPhils series is still alive, but the Yankees won't return to the postseason.

They predict the Red Sox will win 95 games this year - the second-highest total in baseball. Alas, just like 2008, that won't be enough to beat the Rays for the division title. They also have the Phillies winning the division yet again (yawn) but with a surprisingly low 88 wins.

No matter the position or the number of wins, all this says to me is that we will see the SoxandPhils World Series this year.

Ruban Amaro Jr. is ready for it. He was on the radio yesterday with Mike Missanelli, who was hammering him for not keeping Cliff Lee after acquiring Roy Halladay. The radio host said it was his fear that the Phillies were facing the Red Sox in the World Series: Halladay wins game one, Cole Hamels loses game two and then it's Joe Blanton against Josh Beckett in game three.

Amaro said he'd "be more than pleased" with that scenario and to play the Red Sox in the World Series.

So would we.

Bring it on.

{Greg, you can't say bring it on in January!}

Spring is on its way

We still have to get through the Super Bowl and some more cold weather, but there are some signs of spring today - 67 days before opening day.

Most notably is the fact that several of the SoxandPhils media have features on young players poised for a bigger role in 2010 or prospects who are a bit further away.

The Daily News took the first in-depth look at Phillippe Aumont, who will be compared with Cliff Lee and Kyle Drabek for the rest of his career. Also acquired with Aumont was Tyson Gillies - how did we not know before that he was deaf? Good human interest story. But Gillies isn't the top outfield prospect on the Phillies - it's still Domonic Brown, who told CSNPhilly.com that this will be the biggest year of his career.

For the Red Sox, Daniel Bard also has big aspirations, but he's glad to serve another year of apprenticeship under Jonathan Papelbon. And he knows the way to a Red Sox fan's heart is by a subtle-but-gratuitous shot at the Yankees:

Papelbon's crazed alter ego is known as "Cinco Ocho." Bard has one, too, but he's not sharing the name. Besides, his mound demeanor probably trends more toward the Mariano Rivera, keep-it-cool end of the spectrum.

"I don't show a ton of emotion," Bard said. "It's more of a focused intensity; not so much Joba Chamberlain-esque. Whatever works for you."

I bet Christine points out that he's also taking a shot at Papelbon.

Hats off to the Hall

The Hall of Fame has decided that Andre Dawson should be immortalized wearing an Expos cap instead of a Red Sox hat. Dawson threw a hissy fit because he wanted to wear a Cubs hat.

Red Sox angle aside, I can't believe that the first player to truly complain about the Hall's cap policy would be a player who is highly regarded for his character. Everyone thought it would be a money-grubbing player, acting like a jilted lover against a former team. OK, everyone thought it would have been Wade Boggs or Roger Clemens looking to get even with the Red Sox.

But, no, it's Andre Dawson - a player who should be grateful that voters overlooked his measly on-base percentage to allow him to enter. He seems more concerned about the extra money he could get by being enshrined as a Cub. He is even considering wearing a Cubs hat at his induction instead of the classically cheesy red, white and blue old-school Montreal logo:

"To be honest with you, I thought about that," he said. "It was a tough night for me sleeping [Tuesday]. I slept better the night before the announcement than I did after I got the decision last night, as odd as that might sound.

"I don't want to do anything that might be an embarrassment to someone or show someone up, that's not my character. But there will be some way I will try to acknowledge the Cubs fans to show just how important they were to me. I did think about at some point in time during the speech putting a Cubs cap on, but I don't know if that's appropriate."

You'd think he'd be prouder to be the second - and possibly last, depending on what happens with Tim Raines and Vladimir Guerrero - member of the Expos contingency in the Hall of Fame. Regretfully, he is not.

Also, Dawson said he hasn't heard from Chicago's most famous baseball fan (President Obama, not Steve Bartman) "probably because he's a White Sox fan." No, probably because the prez is a Sarge (Gary Matthews) fan.

Old guys with bum ankles

When we watched Brett Favre gut it out on an injured ankle on Sunday, Christine made some derogatory remarks about putting ketchup on a sock or something. I have no idea what she was talking about, but watching the old guy reminded me of Curt Schilling in the 2004 ALCS. (Although Curt didn't choke like Favre did.)

Then, I learned that Schilling might be pulling a Favre:

The following post just came across Curt Schilling's official Twitter page:

"Working out again...not sure I can add anything to that other than I feel it in every fiber of my being, every step I take..."

John Tomase, the Boston Herald's diligent reporter, followed up with him:

"Just working out," he said.

So no plans to come back?

"Nope," he said.

OK, guess that settles that, then.

So, we don't have to worry about Schilling rumors as we spend the next several months discussing whether Favre will make his umpteenth comeback.

More retirement: Mark Loretta, a Red Sox in 2006, has retired and will join Jed Hoyer in the Padres front office. He played well in his year with the Red Sox, but his stint in Boston probably wouldn't merit a mention here except for the fact that his Chris Berman nickname - Mark "Get Back" Loretta - has become a running joke for Christine and me.

Congrats, Chuck: As a Yankee hater who has gone from obese to slim, I don't know whether I'm more proud of Charlie Manuel for saying the Phillies "owe the Yankees one" or for taking care of his health. (He's looking quite dapper.)

Chooch got rooked

Last night, during commercial breaks, I flipped from the NFC Championship Game to MLB Network, which was playing a real classic: Game 6 of the 2003 World Series. (The game in which Josh Beckett became a Yankee killer.)

One time, after I flipped back to football, Christine got upset because news was coming up on the ticker. Why bother, so you can read that Joel Piniero signed with the Angels - just as he did yesterday, the day before and the day before that? I thought sarcastically. But I flipped back and rewound to humor her. And there it was: Carlos Ruiz had signed a three-year deal for little more than $8 million.

Christine claims she had some of her psychic intuition in making me flip back.

We were both surprised to see a contract so small when the going rate for Joe Blanton and Shane Victorino has been more than $20 million. We think Chooch needs a better agent. A FanGraphs post - Carlos Ruiz gets bought out - seems to agree, but concludes that the deal isn't as lopsided toward the Phillies as first believed. (The analysis is a bit above my head.)

Futher complicating matters is that Chooch isn't just one of Christine's favorite Phillies, but he's the choice of team president David Montgomery:

A few days after the Phillies clinched their third straight NL East championship, team president David Montgomery sat in his office at Citizens Bank Park and admitted catcher Carlos Ruiz may be his favorite player.

"I think Carlos knows I'm kind of partial to him," Montgomery said with a smile.

So, the teacher's pet can't even crack eight digits? Chooch got rooked.

Plus, it is odd that a player who has been in the organization since he was a teenager won't be a free agent until he is in his mid-30s.

I'm stupid, but not the only one

I've enjoyed having the son of a former major leaguer as a touted prospect for the Red Sox. It has given me several opportunities to reminisce about the time in high school that I was fully decked out in Red Sox garb to interview then-Yankees second baseman Pat Kelly during a mall autograph signing.

Unfortunately, the Boston Herald's Jom Tomase says the guy I interviewed is not the father of Red Sox prospect Casey Kelly. Don't get your inner Maury Povich in a tizzy - it just happens that there were two, actually three, former major leaguers named Pat Kelly. Tomase implies the mix-up happens often:

First off, Casey Kelly’s dad is not that Pat Kelly.

While the Red Sox farmhand is the son of a big leaguer, it’s not the one who spent most of his nine-year career playing second base for the Yankees.

It’s the Pat Kelly who spent nearly eight years in the minors before finally earning the call to the big leagues for a career that lasted all of five days. The elder Kelly debuted in Fenway Park for the Blue Jays on May 28, 1980 and recorded a pair of singles off Bob Stanley that went down as the only two hits of his career. Two games later, the catcher was done, leaving the game after seven at-bats and with a career .286 average.

Oops. That's probably the biggest mistake I've made on this blog. Well, at least the worst since I told Christine that Pablo Sandoval qualified as a rookie in 2009 when she was making her preseason predictions. I think the Kelly screw-up is worse. Christine would agree except my mistake with Pablo made her look bad.

I apologize to all involved. For the record, here's the baseball-reference pages for the Kellys - both related and not related:

Casey Kelly, the son.

Pat Kelly, the father.

Pat Kelly, not the father.

Pat Kelly, an unrelated All-Star outfielder who played from 1967 to 1981. He was born in Philadelphia and is a brother-in-law to Andre Thornton.

Casey Kelley, some unknown minor leaguer who played in the Angels system a decade ago.

Former Phillies backup outfielders: SoxandPhils Matt Stairs signed a minor league deal with the Padres and appears to have a shot to make the team. ... So Taguchi, who "won the World Series with both the Cardinals and the Philadelphia Phillies," is going back to Japan.

U-G-L-Y II

Not to be outdone by the new cheesy Red Sox hat, the Phillies will wear their former powder blue road uniforms this year. Calm down, retro lovers - it's a one-day deal to help the Brewers celebrate the 1970s.

Christine doesn't think the Phillies wanted to do it:

Scott Brandreth, the Phillies' director of merchandising, said that is the only game planned for the retro uniforms at this time.

The event was at the Brewers' urging, but Brandreth said the Phillies "were happy to participate."

She also thinks several Phillies - notably Ryan Howard, Carlos Ruiz and Joe Blanton - are going to look very funny wearing powder blue from head to toe.

Football: I want to buy into the Jets, but I can't. I'm picking both home teams, the Colts and Saints, to advance to the Super Bowl.

Ruben forgot to sign somebody

Following Joe Blanton's three-year deal, Ruben Amaro has inked a similar deal for Shane Victorino and a one-year contract with Jose Contreras.

We're glad Victorino is locked up and blase about Contreras, but don't like the future implications for other Phillies. Contreras' deal diminishes what little chance that SoxandPhils favorite Mike Zagurski has of making the team:

The Phillies now have six relievers under contract, with prospect Antonio Bastardo the frontrunner to fill the remaining void. With veteran lefty J.C. Romero expected to miss up to a month, and with closer Brad Lidge questionable for Opening Day, young lefty Sergio Escalona and righthander Scott Mathieson will also have a chance to contend for a roster spot in spring training.

Other options include lefthander Mike Zagurski. Righthander B.J. Rosenberg, who showed promise at Class A last season, will also be in spring training.

And the beat writers honed in on a conclusion that Christine and I have had for a while: Jayson Werth is a goner after this season. Amaro pretty much acknowledged that Victorino's deal means Werth won't be re-signed after the season:

"Jayson is under contract through this year. We've had very, very preliminary discussions about what his future might be like here. There will be some difficult decisions down the road. We'll have to weigh where we want to fit in all the dollars and how we want to fit the puzzle together. We can not operate with nothing but $15- to $20-million players. And if there's any indication how much the [Matt] Holliday and Bay signings have on direct impact on where Werth may be at the end of this year, we're going to have to sift through it and figure out what's best for the organization, not just for the next couple years but also long-term."

Sounds like J-Dub will be patrolling right field for the Yankees in 2011. They might be looking for a catcher too, so Ruben better stop dawdling and lock up Carlos Ruiz.

Christine would like to know whether she will be able to wear her Chooch shirt beyond this season.

U-G-L-Y

No, I'm not talking about Joe Blanton, who signed a three-year $24 million deal today - I'm talking about the new Red Sox hat.

Of course they needed a new hat. How could a team take batting practice wearing the same old hats they wear in games?

Marketing at its worst, I suppose.

I have no interest in this new fandangled headgear, but if Blanton does, he could buy plenty with his new contract.

My question: If he wasn't sincere about that $10 million arbitration filing, why didn't he do something totally outrageous like file for $30 million?

At dinner, Christine said she liked the deal because it's essentially the same amount the Phillies had wasted on Adam Eaton a few years ago. Plus, if the Phillies ever need to trade Country Joe, his contract won't be prohibitive, she said.

I will vouch for her that she hadn't read this analysis by Beer Leaguer and Rob Neyer:

Beer Leaguer reasoned:

As for the deal, I’m ok with it; $8 million per seems a tad high, but a decent trade-off considering that the durable Blanton is a couple years younger than Pineiro and Marquis; Blanton will only be 32 by the time his contract expires; Pineiro and Marquis are 31. It's actually the exact same money they gave Adam Eaton over three years; hopefully, it produces a difference result.

Rob Neyer - despite Christine's belief that he is anti-Phillie - took it a step further:

When Eaton got his deal, he'd started 35 games in the previous two seasons. Blanton has averaged 32 starts over the last five seasons. Blanton does eat innings, but the digestion process goes pretty well, too.

The Eaton contract was obviously foolish; the Blanton contract is obviously smart. Which isn't to say he's a sure thing. But 200 innings and a 4.00 ERA is worth more
than $8 million per season, and actually quite a bit more. If the Phillies' young pitchers do come through, it shouldn't be hard to trade Blanton for something useful.

Of course, I still think I would have liked to gamble on one year of Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay, but that ship has sailed, so I guess this deal makes sense.

[Photo credit: Boston Globe]

Gagne with a spoon

Last night, Christine was bemused by some Internet commenters who were howling for Ruben Amaro Jr.'s head because he signed Brandon Duckworth to a minor league contract. We couldn't believe that someone would rip a GM for signing a veteran to be organization filler at AAA. It's not like he was being billed as the backup plan in case the Phillies have an encore of the 2009 Brad Lidge.

No one suggested that Mr. Stinkypants has the slightest chance of being a significant part of the Phillies major league pitching staff. But one possible plan B for the Phillies will have me calling for Amaro's head. Here's Scott Lauber's account:

Last week, after the revelation that Brad Lidge had undergone arthroscopic knee surgery and may not be ready for the start of the season, I asked Ruben Amaro Jr. if the Phillies now need to find another veteran reliever for their already injury-riddled bullpen.

"Our needs haven't changed," Amaro told Philled In. "We're still going to try to create some depth if we can."

He indicated that the Phillies would continue to target mostly "low-risk, high-reward" pitchers whose price tag has dropped because they've received fewer offers than they anticipated. Essentially, Amaro is bargain-hunting.

In that spirit, the Phillies will send scouts to watch Eric Gagne throw today in Arizona, according to a sports-radio station in Quebec. (Big assist to Google for translating the report from French into something resembling English.)

Gag me.

Please.

With a spoon.

I can't imagine being more bitter toward a player who ultimately did not cost my team a championship. There's no indication that poor trade in 2007 hurt the eventual World Champions, but Gagne was horrible and his acquisition gave the Red Sox another mention in baseball's steroid scandal.

Don't do it, Ruben. With J.C. Romero, your bullpen has its fill of SoxandPhils with drug baggage.

More bad pitching acquisitions: Fangraphs proclaimed the winter of 2006 the worst ever in terms of contracts given to free agent pitchers. The SoxandPhils helped out with the $24 million wasted on Adam Eaton and Daisuke Matzusaka's $52 million contract. I still have hope the Dice-K gambit will pay off.

A legendary pitcher signs deal

And I'm not talking about Jonathan Papelbon surprisingly signing a one-year $9.35 million contract without a protracted or acrimonious delay. No, I'm talking about the return of a Philadelphia legend: Brandon Duckworth, who signed a minor league deal with the Phillies.

In his initial stint as a Phillie, which lasted from 2001 until he was traded for Billy Wagner after the 2003 season, Christine and I called him Mr. Stinkypants just because he usually stunk up the joint. But we said it with affection and look forward to reliving those days - without the stinking up the joint part - even though he signed a minor league deal without an invitation to spring training.

That doesn't bode well for anyone hoping for a Duck Pond reunion this summer.

Two former Red Sox flops back in the news

Two players who are among the most reviled Red Sox free agent signings in the 1990s have been in the news recently for slightly different reasons.

Jack Clark, who in retrospect is probably one of the last untainted sluggers, called out Mark McGwire and the rest of the roiders in a story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

"A lot of them should be banned from baseball, including Mark McGwire," Clark said. "All those guys are cheaters —A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez). Fake, phony. Rafael Palmeiro. Fake, a phony.

"(Roger) Clemens, (Barry) Bonds. (Sammy) Sosa. Fakes. Phonies. They don't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.

"They should all be in the Hall of Shame. They can afford to build it. They've all got so much money. And they could all go there and talk about the next way to rub something on your skin. The whole thing is creepy. "They're all creeps. All these guys have been liars," Clark said.

Amen. Jack the Ripper, you might not have had the greatest career, but at least you're at peace knowing you did the best you could without cheating. He says it best:

"I'd rather take my 340 home runs (11 seasons of more than 20) legitimately instead of taking that stuff to be phony."

Meanwhile, Jose Offerman, who less than three years ago attacked former Phillie Matt Beech with a baseball bat, has punched an umpire in the winter league:

Offerman, manager of the Licey Tigers, appeared to hit first base umpire Daniel Rayburn in the face or neck with his fist during a heated discussion in a game against the Cibao Giants. Rayburn fell to the ground.

I have nothing to add. I just hope that Rayburn isn't hurt as badly by Offerman as John Nathans was.

J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets: I often acknowledge that I tend to be a fair-weather football fan. I may be biased, but I think it's OK to be fickle as long as you never pretend to be devoted to a team and acknowledge that you are fair-weathered. But I usually root against three teams - Cowboys, Jets and Eagles - so I can't believe I was getting sucked into the Jets last night, even though they cemented another woeful weekend of predictions: 1-3 this time.

Nearing the top of that winter hill

Last night, Christine was taking pins out of some shirts we had bought.

I offered to get her something out of the kitchen.

"Thanks," she said. "I can't move."

"Afraid you'll knock the pins into the cracks of the couch?"

"No, I can't stop watching this."

On the screen was a riveting contest from 1989 in with Philadelphia beat Pittsburgh 15-11. It was not a low-scoring football game, but a slugfest between two awful baseball teams on June 8, 1989.

The Pirates knocked out Phillies starter Larry McWilliams after one-third of an inning. They scored 10 runs in the first, famously prompting announcer Jim Rooker to say, "If the Pirates lose this game, I'll walk home."

That's famous because in the fall he had to walk the 300 miles after the Phillies - led by Steve Jeltz - kept chipping away and finally took the lead with an five-run 8th inning, which was preserved by Steve Bedroisian.

Jeltz hit two of his five career home runs in this game despite entering the game in the 2nd inning when it was assumed the game was a blowout. Von Hayes had four RBI, and newly acquired - and baby-faced - John Kruk had four hits.

It was an awful game that we couldn't stop watching (and we weren't even sure at the time whether the Phillies would win). It was great see a younger Kruk and much skinner Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla. The late Eric Gregg was a treat to watch umpiring at home plate.

Christine's only lament was that we got the Pirates broadcasters (although in retrospect it was probably intentional because of Rooker's line) instead of Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn.

With 78 days to opening day, let's hope MLB Network airs some more like this in the coming weeks.

The winter hump

Other than last week's incredible ending of the Cardinals-Packers game, I haven't been able to get myself psyched up for playoff football.

Today looks deceivingly warm outside, which isn't helping matters.

But I think Christine is taking the offseason harder.

The other night we were watching TV and someone was talking to a guy named Lee.

"It sounded like he said Utley," she said.

"Nah, just Lee."

"Oh, maybe I'm more baseball deprived than I thought," she said.

Seventy-nine more days until opening day. Meanwhile, I'll try to get psyched for today's pair of football games in domes.

Animal Planet misses Harry: Christine has always preferred watching puppies to football. We wondered how Puppy Bowl would continue this year without its voice, Harry Kalas, a man, according to Animal Planet, whose "booming and powerful voice juxtaposed against our furry players will be sorely missed."

There's no mention on the Web site who will announce the furry free-for-all this year. Indigo (pictured) is still sad Harry won't be here to call the action, but the pup will play hard in his memory on Feb. 7.

[Photo credit: Animal Planet]

Zolecki wraps up the decade

Earlier this week, Todd Zolecki belatedly named Jimmy Rollins the Phillies player of the decade. (In December, SoxandPhils honored J-Roll along with Tim Wakefield as the two players who best resembled the ideals of our teams for the aughts.)

J-Roll was a fairly obvious pick, and we debated among ourselves who Zolecki would proclaim as Phillies pitcher of the decade. We figured that Cole Hamels didn't pitch enough and that it would come down to Brett Myers beating out Randy Wolf; at one point, we even had Vicente Padilla in the running. We reasoned that young Brett pitched the most of any Phillies pitcher in the decade, and although he didn't live up to expectations, he did perform well.

We were wrong. Zolecki went with the flameout Cole Hamels:

Forty-six pitchers made starts for the Phillies in the '00s. Of the 16 hurlers with 30 or more starts, Hamels is one of only two pitchers to have an ERA under 4.00 -- Padilla had a 3.98 ERA.

Hamels' .244 batting average against ranked second behind Robert Person (.233). Hamels' opponents' on-base-plus-slugging percentage (.704) ranked first. Hamels also ranked first in baserunners per nine innings (10.73), strikeouts per nine innings (8.38) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.67).

Oh, and he owned the 2008 postseason.

Yes, Hamels went 10-11 with a 4.32 ERA in 2009.

Yes, he pitched poorly in the 2009 postseason (1-2, 7.58 ERA in four starts). But nobody enjoyed the kind of success he had in his short period of time.

Somewhere, Adam Eaton demands a recount.

I guess we can't really gripe - it's just odd that a guy with less than four full seasons would get the honor. Then again, that may be a lot of seasons for one pitcher on one team in one decade. Let's just hope he retains his title in this decade.

It's official: The 2010 Red Sox are Bill James' science experiment on defensive metrics. ... The team acknowledged the minor league signing of Brian Shouse, along with six others.

Football: I don't know when we'll post tomorrow, so I'll make my weekend football picks now so that nobody accuses me of rigging my picks when the Cardinals upset the Saints tomorrow. I'll also pick the Cowboys to upset the Vikings, but the favorites in the AFC - Colts over Ravens and Chargers over Jets.

Last pitcher standing

The Red Sox signed Brian Shouse to a minor league deal, but the 41-year-old lefty doesn't have much of a chance of making the team, as the Boston Globe noted:

Here's how much the Red Sox think of having signed Brian Shouse: They didn't announce it.

The Globe also noted that Shouse was a teammate of Tim Wakefield's on the 1993 Pirates. He then went five years without appearing in the majors before he resurfaced as a teammate of Wakefield on the 1998 Red Sox.

How odd is that? Of the 47 players who appeared in a game for the 1993 Pirates, 26 played their last game before 1998. Other than Shouse and Wakefield, no member of that team played beyond 2006.

From the 1998 Red Sox, Shouse and Wakefield are two of eight players still active - Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Varitek, Pedro Martinez, Derek Lowe, Tom Gordon and Ron Mahay are the others. Other members of the '93 Pirates also on the '98 Red Sox were Midre Cummings and Orlando Merced.

Of the 47 players who played on that Red Sox team, 10 were gone by 1999 and 32 didn't play beyond 2003.

For the quirkiness of it, I hope Shouse, who was the fourth-oldest player in the American League last year, rejoins Wakefield, the AL's oldest player, in Boston this year.

Other relievers in the news: Boof Bonser doesn't know why his mom started calling him Boof, but he legally changed his name from John Paul in 2001. ... Hideki Okajima signed, avoiding arbitration. ... And before Phillies fans could stop laughing about Carlos Beltran surprising the Mets by having surgery, a similar thing occurred with Brad Lidge.

Attitudes, perception and perspective

I got bad vibes from John Lackey when he was continually frustrated by the Red Sox in the playoffs (until last year, of course). He'd glare at defenders and spout off at his offense for lack of support.

"He's no Jon Lester," I wrote during the 2008 ALDS.

He seemed the type of player I wouldn't want on my team.

Today, however, Amalie Benjamin tries to explain his attitude - he wants to win so badly that he's a jerk when he pitches:

"But every fifth day - ask the guys that played with me - I'm probably not the nicest person in the world. I'm ready to get after it. I'm there to win. I'm not there to mess around, for sure."

"I'd never really seen John get mad until I saw him screaming on the mound one day," [his wife] Krista says. "I was like, 'Oh my gosh.' I've never seen him get that angry. He's just always a very calm, mellow person. Just goes with the flow. Then he was so intense. It was kind of scary."

If Lackey's attitude really were a problem, you have to figure Benjamin would have found a teammate to spout off anonymously. If it were a problem, there's no way his former manager Mike Scioscia would speak so glowingly about him now that he's gone:

"You're not going to find a better teammate, you're not going to find a better guy in the clubhouse," Scioscia says. "For a guy that you would think is as competitive as you see on the field, he is really soft-spoken off the field. He is very caring. He's in touch with the community."

So, hopefully, my opinion of John Lackey as a a player I wouldn't want on my team was wrong. Or maybe I'm just a biased Red Sox fan enjoying his team's latest acquisition.

Lackey has some similarity with former Phillie Brett Myers. They're both big right-handers from the South whose competitiveness sometimes overcomes their composure.

As Brett has switched from Phillies red to Astros brown? yellow? orange? mustard? he pledged to "stick it" to his former team. We've been critical of Myers' attitude, but I kind of like his spunk here. (Maybe because he's not the Phillies problem anymore?)

Say what you want about Brett, but he gets Philadelphia. From the moment it was clear he was leaving, he has made a clear distinction between the team's management (who he has a right to be angry with) and its fans (who largely supported him during his tenure).

The fact that he continues to say he wanted to stay in Philly and openly encouraged fans to boo him proves his affection for the city and its fans.

Of course, not being primarily a Phillies fan might have altered my perception here.

I asked Christine what she thought of young Brett's quote and she said, "I hope he sticks it to the Phillies like he has been over the past few years: by giving up home runs at Citizens Bank Park."

Then, she conceded that fans can give him an ovation - until he crosses the white line.

Pat Burrell's impact

According to The Bill James Handbook, Charlie Manuel used more pinch runners in 2007 (56) and 2008 (62) than any other manager. He also used a lot of defensive substitutes in those years (75 and 60).

Those numbers plummeted last year: only 20 pinch runners and 16 defensive replacements. In the National League, a manager averaged 20 pinch runners last year and 38 defensive switches.

How much of Cholly's decreased use in switches is due to the fact that our beloved Pat Burrell, a plodding left fielder, was jettisoned for Raul Ibanez?

Incidentally, the Phillies also, by far, used the fewest number of lineups of any team last year. Cholly used only 68 lineups the entire season; the only other team with fewer than 100 lineups was the Marlins with 97.

Missed one: The other day, I noted that while Roger Clemens was making his 375th start for the Red Sox on Aug. 17, 1996, an unknown named Rich Hunter was making his eighth start for the Phillies. Christine, however, noticed that for Seattle on that day, a 33-year-old pitcher was making his 243rd start. His name? Jamie Moyer.

Honor roll

The other day, I noted how Jamie Moyer is now the active career leader in several more categories because Randy Johnson announced his retirement.

He's clearly the most decorated active SoxandPhil, but he's not the only one who ranks among active career leaders. Here's where some SoxandPhils hitters rank on the career lists in The Bill James Handbook - but for my sake, we'll keep using the Big Unit's rankings from the book.

After completing this mind-numbing task, my one thought is surprise that Pat Burrell couldn't squeeze into any category, but Carlos Ruiz did.

Current SoxandPhils

Slugging average: Ryan Howard (.586, third)

Triples: Jimmy Rollins (95, T-first), Mike Cameron (59, 10th)

Strikeouts: Cameron (1,798, second)

Stolen bases: Rollins (326, eighth)

Seasons played: Moyer (23, first)

At-bats per home run: Howard (12.1, first)

Stolen base percentage: Jacoby Ellsbury (84.9, fourth), Rollins (82.5, seventh)

Strikeouts-to-walks ratio: Dustin Pedroia (.820, sixth), Ruiz (.971, 10th)

OPS: Howard (.961, sixth)

Secondary average: Howard (.461, fourth)

Highest strikeout per PA: Howard (.279, seventh)

Lowest strikeout per PA: Placido Polanco (.065, third), Pedroia (.069, fourth)

At-bats per RBI: Howard (4.2, first), David Ortiz (4.8, fifth)

Former SoxandPhils

Average: Manny Ramirez and Nomar Garciaparra (.313, T-ninth)

On-base percentage: Ramirez (.411, fourth), Jim Thome (.404, eighth), Bobby Abreu (.404 ninth)

Slugging average: Ramirez (.591, second), Thome (.557, eighth)

Home runs: Thome (564, third), Ramirez (546, fourth)

Games: Thome (2,284, fifth), Ramirez (2,207, sixth)

At-bats: Johnny Damon (8,408, sixth), Ramirez (7,962, ninth)

Hits: Ramirez (2,494, seventh), Damon (2,425, ninth)

Total bases: Ramirez (4,703, fourth), Thome (4,290, fifth)

Doubles: Ramirez (531, second), Abreu (483, sixth), Damon (451, 10th)

Triples: Damon (95, T-first)

Runs: Ramirez (1,506, fifth), Thome (1,486, sixth), Damon (1,483, seventh)

RBI: Ramirez (1,788, second), Thome (1,565, fifth)

Walks: Thome (1,619, first), Ramirez (1,283, fifth), Abreu (1,254, seventh)

Intentional walks: Ramirez (212, third), Thome (162, seventh)

Hit by pitch: Scott Rolen (112, ninth)

Strikeouts: Thome (2,313, first), Ramirez (1,748, fourth), Abreu (1,518, eighth)

Sacrifice hits: John Smoltz (136, second), Edgar Renteria (91, eighth)

Sacrifice flies: Ramirez (87, fourth)

Stolen bases: Damon (374, third), Abreu (348, sixth)

Seasons played: Tom Gordon and Smoltz (21, T-fourth), Thome (19, T-eighth)

At-bats per home run: Thome (13.7, second), Ramirez (14.6, sixth), Russell Branyan (14.8, seventh)

Grounded into double play: Ramirez (237, third), Renteria (226, sixth)

Stolen base percentage: Michael Bourn (82.9, sixth)

Worst stolen base percentage: Mark Kotsay (62.3, second)

At-bats per GIDP: Bourn (240.0, second), Branyan (105.7, 10th)

OPS: Ramirez (1.002, second), Thome (.961, seventh)

Secondary average: Thome (.492, first), Ramirez (.443, sixth)

Highest strikeout per PA: Branyan (.335, first), Smoltz (.313, fifth), Carlos Pena (.262, ninth)

Plate appearances: Thome (9,463, seventh), Ramirez (9,437, eighth), Damon (9,433, ninth)

At-bats per RBI: Ramirez (4.5, second), Thome (4.9, seventh)

{And if you've managed to slog your way through to the end of this list, yes, Greg did go 0-4 on his weekend football picks. Better luck next weekend.}

Who is Rich Hunter?

The Red Sox pitcher on Aug. 17, 1996, had started 374 major league games for the Red Sox, and although he would start 333 more in his 24-year career, he would pitch only eight more times for the Red Sox.

The Phillies pitcher that day was making his eighth start for the Phillies. He would start six more that season and then never pitch again in the big leagues.

Let's backtrack.

While looking at my program yesterday for the post on Roger Clemens' last Fenway shutout for the Red Sox, I noticed that I had saved the little insert that lists news and other teams' rosters. (For the long-timers, this is similar to the Phillies former Newsy Notes.)

Of course, I checked to see what the Phillies were doing that day. They were hosting the Giants and starting a 1-3 pitcher named Hunter. I couldn't remember a Hunter on the Phillies in the mid-1990s. Neither could Christine, which is odd because both of us tend to remember most scrubby players.

We were more curious when we found out that the Phillies pitcher, Rich Hunter, had made 14 starts that year but never pitched again in the majors. He kicked around the minors and independent leagues until 1999 and his career ended when he was 24 years old.

The most we could find on him was a 1996 Baseball Digest story talking about rookies who could make an impact. He went 19-2 with a 2.73 ERA in A and AA ball in 1995, earning the organization's Paul Owens Award for minor league pitcher of the year.

"He doesn't throw real hard, but he's just got phenomenal control," said Del Unser, Phillies director of player development. "He's got a big-league curveball and a big-league changeup along with big-league control (32 walks in 184 innings) and big league poise."

We found a couple game-day stories about his starts, but not much else.

Fortunately, Christine remembered that I hadn't yet thrown out my 1996 Scranton Wilkes-Barre Red Barons program. Sure enough, today's topic is in there on page 67. But there's not much to note other than he was single in 1996 and a 1992 graduate of Linfield High School in California, where he was first-team All-State in baseball.

I'm willing to bet injuries played a role, but I'd love to know why he never panned out.

Football: As is becoming annual tradition, I forgot to post my playoff picks yesterday. Good thing because I would have picked the Bengals and Eagles. I just couldn't see the Jets winning a game, and I thought the Eagles had a bigger choke in them. Oops. Today, I pick the Patriots and Packers. So if you need some money, bet on the Ravens and Cardinals.

My last untainted memory of Roger the Red Sox

Until Andre Dawson ends the speculation and announces that he will enter the Hall of Fame as a Red Sox, people will wonder if he will wear a Cubs or Expos hat into Cooperstown. Seriously, I endorse Les Expos.

The topic recently prompted Rob Neyer to list which caps he thinks certain multi-team stars should wear. He said that, without a doubt, Roger Clemens should go in with a B on his head.

After all that has happened (and assuming they start voting in roiders), I'm not sure I would even want that anymore.

But it did give me the opportunity to revisit Aug. 17, 1996 - the day I was in the stands to see Clemens throw his last home shutout for the Red Sox.

I kept score, but I couldn't scan a copy because the scorecard boxes have diamonds on them, making the page hard to read. (I prefer empty boxes on my scorecards.)

I don't remember much except the experience of watching a seemingly washed-up Roger Clemens revert to The Rocket. He was dominant. The place was electric. And I was thrilled. Of course, the whole thing was probably fake.

Recently, I salvaged the program from that day. It touts Jeff Frye, Reggie Jefferson, Bill Haselman and Jose Malave as unsung stars of the 1996 Red Sox, which finished 82-80.

Other stars on that lackluster team included Mike Stanley, Mo Vaughn, Tim Naehring, John Valentin, Wil Cordero, Mike Greenwell, Jose Canseco and Troy O'Leary.

See, this is why I seldom criticize SoxandPhils management. I'll never forgot rosters like these.

To the right are some photos of the team. Without editorial comment, notice Vaughn, Canseco, Clemens, Tim Wakefield, Kevin Mitchell, Tom Gordon and Jamie Moyer.

Not included on this page - but we'll show him separately - is an ultimate SoxandPhil. One of two to be officially owned by this Web site: Healthcliff Slocumb "if you got 'em."

I won't get myself riled up by discussing why he is not in the Hall of Fame, but if, no, when he is inducted, what do you think - Red Sox or Phillies hat? Other than three years with the Cubs, he never spent more than two years in one place. He performed better as a Phillie, but had more saves as a Red Sox.

And I think he should get bonus credit for his impact on Red Sox history. Without him, there would be no Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek and therefore no trophy in 2004.

I know it won't happen, but Slocumb's induction speech would make me feel a lot happier than Clemens'.

When one old lefty moves out, another moves up

When Randy Johnson announced his retirement this week, it did have some meaning for the Phillies - well, one of them anyway.

With Johnson out of the picture, Jamie Moyer has moved up in a couple of categories on the ol' active leader lists, according to The Bill James Handbook.

Before the Big Unit retired, J-Moy already led active pitchers in games started (609), losses (195) and home runs allowed (491).

Now, he will open the season also leading in wins (258), innings (3,908.2) and batters faced (16,642).

Moyer also moved up to fifth in complete games (31), third in strikeouts (2,342), second in walks (1,117) and third in hit batsmen (138).

Moyer - whose fastball averaged a league-low 81.4 mph last year - will be the active strikeout leader if Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz don't play in 2010.

Another old Phillie: Brett Myers, who has a been a Phillie for so long that his major league debut occurred during our honeymoon, is officially gone. He's now with Ed Wade and the rest of the Philadelphia Astrox. Christine laments the end of an era. We said our peace to young Brett in November.

Mutual (g)love society: Mike Lowell once told Nick Cafardo that Adrian Beltre was the best third baseman he's seen:

"Tools-wise, Adrian Beltre is the best one," he said. "He can be the best one. He's very, very quick. He comes in on the ball incredibly. I relate it to the way I can catch some ground balls. But I see some balls he gets down the line where I really have to concentrate on setting my feet to make a good, strong throw and he's off-balance throwing from the side and it's a rocket that comes out of his arm.

"So I enjoy watching his tools. I wish I could have that ability to flick the ball across the diamond and it goes like a bullet. In the minors, he was like a man playing against boys."

Beltre, supplanting Lowell at third for the Red Sox, returned the kind words today:

New Boston Red Sox third baseman Adrian Beltre has played against Mike Lowell since they were in the minor leagues, and said Lowell has the best hands of any third baseman in the game. "I know Mike Lowell," he said after his introductory press conference in Fenway Park on Friday. "I'm a huge fan of Mike Lowell. Mike is a great guy."

Thanks: Big kudos to Cafepress.com. Christine's Chooch T-shirt was a little too small. We asked to exchange it for a larger one. They just sent us a larger one without asking us to send the other one back. It arrived today. Great customer service.

Relieving characters

It's almost arbitration time, and since Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels were all locked up last year, we turn to Jonathan Papelbon to provide the annual SoxandPhils whining. He's not there yet, but he seems to be warming up in this entertaining interview with Gordon Edes, who thinks the closer will earn about $10 million this year:

Seven big league closers have contracts for $10 million or more. It's reasonable to expect that Papelbon will join them.

"Heck yeah, as far as what me and my brain are thinking," Papelbon said, "but I haven't even sat down with my agents [Seth and Sam Levinson] yet. We don't even have a number in place. There haven't been any discussions between me and the Red Sox and my agents at all."

As Papelbon's salary climbs ever higher, he understands that negotiations might turn more contentious.

I think Pap's days in Boston are numbered. He'll be gone when he hits free agency in 2011, if he's not traded next winter. He wants to break the bank, and the Red Sox are grooming a capable replacement in Josh Bard.

I'll miss him. He's the kind of player whose talent overshadows the dumb comments he makes. And at least he's true to his character, such as the fact that he watches more Mickey Mouse Club than MLB Network:

The TV in his house is always turned to Nick Jr., the Disney Channel or Sprout, he says, so he hasn't been keeping track of the Red Sox's offseason moves.

"I had no idea we got [John] Lackey until [trainer Mike] Reinold came down to see me, just a few days ago," he said. "I swear to you. I don't know anything about the ballclub, but I know the words to the 'Mickey Mouse Clubhouse' song."

Adrian Beltre deal? He hadn't heard. Casey Kotchman about to be traded to the Mariners? Nope. Mike Cameron? "Cameron, Mike Cameron?" he said. "We got him? I swear to you, I didn't know."

Papelbon is not the only quirky SoxandPhil reliever in the news today. Clay Condrey signed with the Twins, and Scott Eyre retired. Christine will miss them both.

The Pen just got a whole lot less interesting.

Congrats, Hawk

I'll admit that when I saw that Andre Dawson was elected to the Hall of Fame today, my first thought was not that another Red Sox outfielder will be enshrined - the third in the last two years.

No, my thought was that Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar should have gotten a call today. I can understand that some voters have a hang up with first-timers like Alomar, but how long does Blyleven have to hang out to dry?

Here's how other SoxandPhils fared in the balloting: Lee Smith (47.3 percent), Dale Murphy (11.7 percent) and Ellis Burks (0.4 percent).

Although the Hall of Fame voting block often confounds logic, fortunately none were foolish enough to vote for former Phillies Mike Jackson or Todd Zeile.

[Photo Credit: SonsofSamHorn.net]

D-Fence and the new-look Red Sox

It's quite clear by now that Theo Epstein thought the best way to improve the Red Sox was via leather and pitching. Run prevention is the new catch phrase in Boston.

So Jason Bay was banished to New York, and Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek were sent to the bench, and Jacoby Ellsbury was sent to left field.

What?

Interestingly, I was looking at defensive stats this morning in The Bill James Handbook and was surprised to see that, defying conventional wisdom, both Ellsbury and Shane Victorino rank among the worst center fielders in the game. So although I was surprised when news broke this afternoon that the Red Sox will play Mike Cameron in center, I wasn't completely shocked.

I'm really psyched for the new-look defensive Red Sox, even though I'm sure some, like this moron particpating in a Rob Neyer chat, will question Theo's logic:

Steve (NYC)
Rob, do you think the Sox are putting too many eggs in the UZR basket? They've improved their defense, but from a distance it also looks like they've added mediocre bats to 1/3 of their lineup. Are we really so confident in the relative value of defense to offense that these "WAR" numbers are gospel? I guess we'll find out, but I personally find the Sox a lot less scary than in previous seasons.

Rob Neyer (12:10 PM)
Cameron has been an above-average hitter in each of the last 11 seasons; Beltre has been above average in four of the last six seasons. So, no.

Thanks, Rob.

A little longer defense of the Red Sox D-Fence comes from Dave Cameron:

Beltre isn't just a good defender. He is in the conversation of the best defensive third baseman of all time.
[...]
It isn't just the numbers, either. When you watch Beltre play third base, you are amazed at the things he can do. He has perfected the charge on a bunt – no one in baseball comes in on the ball as well as he does. His lateral range is hilarious at times, as he regularly fields balls that are hit directly at the shortstop, just because he can. He has a great arm, often throwing lasers across the field without transferring his weight, showing pure arm strength.

Nuggets gleaned today from Bill James: Chase Utley was the best base-running second baseman in 2009 and was second only to Michael Bourn among all players. Mike Lowell was the worst base runner at third base - another reason the Adrian Beltre signing makes sense. Although he's not an excellent base runner, at least Beltre is on the positive side of the ledger, unlike the guy he is replacing.

Brad Lidge had the worst OPS (.912) among relievers with at least 50 games. He was also tied with the second worst save percentage (74 percent).

Ryan Madson tied for second with 29 appearances in which he pitched on the previous day. But with all the talk about not using the injured Lidge on consecutive days, the closer did have 21 such appearances.

[Photo credit: HuggingHaroldReynolds.com]

Back to work

Rob Neyer opened his morning blog post with the observation: "When I have to work every day, I want a day off. When I have days off, I want to work. Go figure ..."

I interpret that as saying that he updates his blog even if he is off. Andy Martino, however, does not. I know it's the holiday season and Phillies news has been slow, but he's gone nearly two weeks since posting. That's ridiculous. Even if he has a good excuse like a personal reason for being unable to work, you'd think a colleague would post something every couple of days to stave off the blog's stagnation.

Christine and I returned to work today after a nice holiday break. I did have time to peek at a couple of pages of The Bill James Handbook that Christine got me for Christmas.

Among the early SoxandPhils highlights is the closest vote ever for a Fielding Bible Award. At second base, Aaron Hill and Dustin Pedroia were tied at 76 points with Chase Utley in third with 73 points. Hill won the tiebreaker with more first place votes than Pedroia.

And the best two catchers at blocking bad pitches? Jason Varitek (95.9 percent) and Carlos Ruiz (95.8 percent). See, Chris Coste, maybe you getting yanked in the 9th inning was more about Chooch and less about you. (That sentiment isn't as bitter toward Coste as it sounds. I was just a little defensive about Christine's favorite Phillie.)

Red Sox still working: But Mike Lowell won't be working as much in 2010. Welcome aboard Adrian Beltre. I like that this is a one-year deal; I'm just perplexed what it means for Lowell's role with the team.

Classic

Last night we were flipping around the TV while trying to forget that we were colder than penguins during this cold snap. MLB Network was not an option because it was showing games from the 2009 playoffs. We were quite surprised, however, to see ESPN Classic come through with Game 5 of the 2008 World Series - both parts.

Although we have this game saved on DVR and in a DVD set, we watched.

Three thoughts:

1. In the 7th inning, when J.C. Romero was summoned from the pen, Christine looked at me wondering why I wasn't heckling. As soon as I started the "ster-oid" chant, it went to commercial and the first one was the anti-steroids commercial with the crumbling statue. Just sayin'.

2. Our amazement for Chase Utley's play in the 7th inning continues to grow. It just gets better every time we see it. When watching it unfold live, I didn't think he had a play at home or first, but somehow he nailed Jason Bartlett at home and prevented the Rays from taking a lead. I don't know where it ranks among defensive plays in World Series history, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't get the credit it deserves.

3. We still can't believe we were there. Even though Christine has the pin to prove it.

More anniversary

SoxandPhils isn't the only revolutionary baseball medium celebrating an anniversary this week. MLB Network launched last year on New Year's Day. I can't believe it's been just one year because I can't remember life without it. It's easily the most-watched channel in our house (except maybe during the actual season when the Phillies games are on Comcast).

I can empathize with those in North Jersey who suddenly lost the Food Network and HGTV because Cablevision dropped the ball. I am a big fan of Alton Brown, Ace of Cakes, Unwrapped and pretty much anything on the food channel, but I would be utterly devastated if FIOS got rid of MLB.

Where else can you catch a random game from 1970 between the Pirates and Expos featuring Boots Day? How about an hour-long retrospective on one of my favorite seasons, 1986? Or how about the current marathon of 2009 playoff games? Well, we can do without that last one.

The other day, Christine finally got around to starting her Harry Kalas book. When she was telling me why she was disappointed with it, MLB Network was on in the background running a bunch of highlights from the regular season. Sure enough, Harry's delightful voice came on describing how the Phillies scored eight runs in the 7th inning to beat the Braves 12-11 on April 8.

It's like the network is so ingrained that it joined our conversation.

But it also reminds us of things we may not want to remember. This morning, Game 3 of the ALDS was on. I watched a little bit of Clay Buchholz against the Angels. I knew the Red Sox would lose, but I didn't mind watching, until I stepped a way for a little bit and came back in the 6th inning when the Angels were trailing 5-1 and threatening to score. That's when I remembered how badly the Red Sox blew that game and switched the channel to Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee.

One beef: I'm tired of every channel's ticker, particularly MLB, labeling every little transaction as a huge exclusive. It's one thing to credit the reporter who breaks a huge story such as the Roy Halladay trade, but it's another to say Jon Heyman reports the Phillies sign Danys Baez, Peter Gammons reports the Mets still stink or Todd Zolecki reports the Phanatic scratched his butt.

Routine matters should not be attributed to a reporter.

Carry on.

Boston beats Philly in Fenway

Foreshadowing Game 7 of the 2010 World Series, majestic Fenway Park was the scene of Boston fending off a tough challenge from Philadelphia.

I don't watch hockey, so I caught only a couple glances of the Flyers and Bruins playing next to the Green Monster as Christine watched the game.

Of course, I caught the part when they sang Sweet Caroline. I stared in disbelief. Christine assured me I was watching reality, not satire. What a stupid tradition. (Singing Neil Diamond, not outdoor hockey.)

Not a stupid tradition: Actually, it probably is. But two years and 750 posts ago, Christine and I started this thing. We had just bought our Sunday season ticket plan and the thought of blogging hit me in the shower. On some days, I'm glad I thought of it. On others, I wish I had just sung Sweet Caroline.

Seriously, thanks to those who have stopped by to read our musings.

[Photo credit: Boston Globe]