Salty wants to be a lieutenant

The slow offseason sputters on. The only thing of note today is Nick Cafardo's column in which Jarrod Saltalamacchia says he'd love to come to Boston to learn how to be a major league catcher under Jason Varitek.

This is welcome news because he has long been on the team's radar and one of the priority's this offseason is finding a replacement or supplement (depending on how serious Scott Boras is about that four-year, $52 million contract for the 36-year-old who can't hit) for the Captain.

Also of note in the column is that Charlie Manuel is campaigning to bring Manny Ramirez to Philadelphia. God no. I'd sign Shea Hillenbrand and his zoo (read the column) before letting Manny ruin the World Champions' mojo.

Like a kid on Christmas

I love the All-Star game. It brings back so many childhood memories. I used to tape the games and then replay them to keep score after I bought the game's program. As soon as the teams were announced, I'd load them into whatever video game I was playing at the time and play a game with the newly minted All-Stars. I'd even watch the celebrity softball game.

The other day, Christine and I were at the mall, and baseball card vendors had set up tables throughout the corridors. We stopped at one - reliving another childhood memory - and looked through the 10 cent bin for funny SoxandPhils cards. We found three and got a deal - a quarter instead of the marked price of 30 cents.

We pulled out a a Carl Everett "Glory Days" and a Shea Hillenbrand "Rising Stars." Before he went crazy and fought umpires, Everett was an All-Star for the Sox in 2000, his first year with the team. Before he went crazy and fought managers, Hillenbrand was somehow voted into the starting lineup as a Red Sox in 2002.

For the Phillies, all we could find was Brandon Duckworth. I know, not an All-Star. But his card proclaims him a "Star Rookie" even though he hadn't yet pitched an inning in the majors.


Real Phillies All-Star: Chase Utley, who always lets his play do the talking for him, responded in kind to the Mets fans who snuck into Yankee Stadium to boo the best second baseman in baseball during introductions tonight for the Home Run Derby. Channeling his inner Pat Burrell, Utley responded: "Boo? Fuck you."

Unfortunately, when it came time to hit, he couldn't channel his inner Ryan Howard and hit just five home runs without advancing to the second round. I thought he would have done better with the short right field fence, but I guess I forgot he doesn't elevate the ball enough.

[Video credit: IrwinRSchyster]