Catching up with former Sox

Please excuse the staleness of what follows. I'll be at work late today, so I pre-wrote a bit.

Anyhoo, a couple former Red Sox have signed contracts recently: Orlando Cabrera signed with the Reds; Kevin Millar signed a minor league deal with the Cubs; and, in a surprise, Byung-Hyun Kim (who's still only 31 despite not pitching in the majors since 2007) signed a minor league deal with the Giants.

For those keeping track of former Red Sox, the Globe has a scorecard.

There's another former Red Sox in the news, but not in the transaction listings. Bill Buckner had some fun with fans at an old-timers dinner in Illinois when asked what his first thought was after the ball rolled through his legs:

"My first thought when it happened was, 'Wow, I get to play in a seventh game of a World Series. How cool is that?' And my other thought was how bad the people in Chicago must feel, Boston being here and their team not."

Finally, one guy who probably won't ever be a Red Sox is Joe Mauer, who seems to be close to signing a long-term deal with the Twins. I'd love to have him on the Red Sox, but it's better for the game to keep him in Minnesota. (I am not a gluttonous Yankees fan.) My only concern is whether this complicates matters with re-signing Victor Martinez, who would become the top catcher on the free-agent market next winter.

Just like last year

A day after the Red Sox and Phillies appeared to be more chump than champ, they each invoked happy memories of 2007.

Bearing gaudy new rings, the Red Sox, behind 2008 ace Daisuke Matsuzaka, handled the Tigers with ease after what seemed to be a typical Red Sox championship celebration: Banners draped the Green Monster; a parade of champions displayed trophies won in New England from all four major professional sports; and Bill Buckner returned to Fenway for the first time since 1990.

(I always blamed John McNamara for Game 6, but in retrospect, with Roger Clemens' aversion to the truth, maybe the pitcher did ask out.)

Dan Shaughnessy captioned the carnival atmosphere, while the Globe posted a couple pictures.

In Shea, the Phillies kept streaking against the Mets. Although Chase Utley kept getting bopped like a whack-a-mole and Jimmy Rollins limped off the field, it was the Mets who were once again left punch drunk.

That's nine straight for the Phillies over the Mets, but don't tell David Wright - he must not remember the first eight:

It’s one straight loss in 2008. Done, over with. We can’t change anything. It’s a new year, a different team, and I think we’re a better team.

I never believed in curses or jinxes, but if I did: The Phillies are now 4-0 when Christine can't watch them, 0-4 when she can. Tomorrow's game is on CN8, which means Phillies win.