We're going to pump [clap] you up!

The last time I wrote about the stuff I found in my parents' attic, I poked fun at the Phillies marketing in the 1990s. The Red Sox also had a gimmick I'm sure they'd like to forget. It's plastered all over the team's 1995 yearbook, which prominently features Mo Vaughn and Jose Canseco wearing wife beaters. The inside cover has the two sluggers back-to-back, flexing their 24-inch pythons like the Hulkster with the inspirational words "get pumped for '95" above them.


This was three years before the synthetic home run chase between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa; six years before Barry Bonds took cheating to another low; and more than a decade before George Mitchell would name names. But I'm still surprised they had the restraint not to do a cross-promotion between these two pure & natural! hitters and this product advertisement found a few pages later:


Roger Clemens was on that squad, too. I bet the team asked him to break out a Speedo and pose with Deb, to which he just stared back, real menacing. I'm sure in his world, the meaner you look, the more innocent you are.


These pictures ruin some of the memories of a great year in which the Sox surprisingly won the division. It was a nice blend of veterans, cast-offs and a few homegrown stars. Tim Wakefield, plucked off the scrap heap, won 16 games, starting a long tenure for a classy Red Sox champion. Mo won the MVP, although many thought either teammate John Valentin or Cleveland's Albert Belle was more deserving. And midseason acquisition Rick Aguilera saved 20 games down the stretch.

It wasn't a great team and probably deserved getting swept by Cleveland, but it was more fun then, knowing what we know now about these players.

Over the weekend, I’ll post some more gems from the yearbook.

Something I never knew before: While refreshing my '95 memories, I took a look at the Sox draft picks that year. In a late round, they took a flier on some high school kid from California whom they probably know wouldn't sign because he was headed to the University of Miami. The players? Pat Burrell, who would be selected No. 1 by the Phillies in 1998 as atonement for J.D. Drew, who now patrols RF for the Red Sox.

Can you imagine if Burrell had signed with the Sox? Would that mean no Manny Ramirez and no championships? Or would it mean that he would have stayed at first and replaced Mo? Either way, I'm sure the Fenway Faithful (what happened to that term? Oh yeah, pink hats and Red Sox Nation) would have welcomed him just as well as Phillies fans did earlier in his career.

Administrative notes: Remember the Doug Glanville jerseys we spotted last month? They made straightcashhomey.net. Thanks for posting it, guys. ... There probably won't be an update tonight as the Phillies wrap up their set with the Braves and the Red Sox get a break in the schedule against the Yankees. We have family in town for the holiday.

Antiquated Red Sox garb III

Next up in my occasional series is one you've already seen. It's an oldie but goodie: Maurice Vaughn.

I got this shirt in the mid-1990s at Fenway. While waiting in line, I almost changed my mind to a Jose Canseco model (I think he had a big game or something). I got some good, surprisingly sincere advice from a Yankees fan who said I should stick with Mo because he'd stick around longer; Canseco was just a mercenary.

I think about that when I wear my faded blue shirt with crumbling letters and No. 42.

Mo was back in the news this week. (The first time since the Mitchell report.) Congrats, I guess, though I don't understand why the Sox would induct a roider this year, even though he didn't start using until after he left the Sox. Ironic, though, that joining him in the Red Sox Hall of Fame is Mike Greenwell, who pointed out years ago that he should be declared the 1988 MVP since Canseco admitted using steroids.

Glad to see Bill Lee inducted too. What took so long?

A tale of two first basemen

It seems like the Phillies and Ryan Howard are entering their now annual contract tiff. Arbitration figures show they're $3 million apart. Some say the Phillies should bite the bullet and just give him a deal eclipsing the 7-year, $85 million given to Chase Utley.

I'd prefer them to just overpay in the short term. Avoid the negative arbitration process this year and offer $9 million or so.

I dunno, there's something about Howard that just screams Mo Vaughn. Remember him? I do. I still wear his shirt.

Dan Duquette, who is owed an apology for getting grilled on the Clemens career twilight comments, got hammered for letting MVP Mo walk, but ask the Angels and Mets whether he made a mistake. (When did I become a Dan Duquette apologist again?)

Howard could be a Hall of Famer. Or he could be Mo, or the others on his list of comparable players whose careers flamed out, like Cecil Fielder, Tony Clark or Ryan Klesko. He's already shown a warning sign with a balky knee.

Toward the end of '06, Ryan Howard was a clean Barry Bonds. Pitchers wouldn't pitch to him, and during the rare times they did, he punished them. In '07, with so many strikeouts, it got to the point where in a big spot you no longer had the same faith and would hope for a sacrifice fly instead of another embarrassing swing and miss.

The next few years may be better, but I wouldn't bet a ton of years on him. Let some other team get saddled with the big contract.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, are only $1.2 million apart from Youkilis. They might be working on a long-term deal, but if he's only asking for $3.7 million this year, ink him at that. Some argued that last year he was more valuable than Howard when counting defense. I don't know if I quite buy it, but Youk gets on base and plays flawless defense.

In other sports: I went 2-2 last week picking all favorites. But I'm not complaining since one of the upsets involved the Giants and the other didn't involve the Patriots. I've been enjoying the Giants' run, but my head still can't jump on the bandwagon, so I'll back the favorites again. When the two teams thaw, it'll be perfection vs. America's QB in the Super Bowl.