8 Yaz 67

I just heard WEEI report that the Red Sox and Twins are CLOSE to completing a deal for Santana. They haven't finalized it yet. They also reported that according to Edes at the Globe, the Twins were satisfied with the medical reports for Jon Lester. If the deal includes Lester the Sox would also trade Coco Crisp, Jed Lowrie and Justin Masterson. If they don't take that deal they would probably take Jacoby Ellsbury, Lowrie and Masterson. I can't wait until this things is completed. I don't want to see the Red Sox lose Ellsbury, but I'd love to see Santana in the pitching rotation. If Epstein can pull-off the trade to get Santana and keep Ellsbury, I call him a genius! This is going to be a lot of fun!

Maybe MLB should implement a pregame inspection and a 7th inning stretch neaten-up and they could also stop the players from spitting, scratching and blowing their noses. Bob Watson, MLB VP of Rules and On-Field Ops. is an idiot!

Personally I don't think any athlete or entertainer is worth $20 Million a year. Who really deserves that kind of money? I understand that without the players there is no game and the players put the fans in the seats. But it's getting crazy. The price of seats (even obstructed view), has gotten ridiculous. If the players could play for less, and if the owners could expect a little less from their baseball investment, the price for a seat could be more reasonable. My dad had to take a family of six to the game. Prices for bleacher seats was $1.50 for seats and $1.00 on benches. Now regular bleacher seats are $23 and upper bleachers goes for $12. These are considered the family seats. Unfortunately when you sit in the upper bleachers you are a very long way away from the action. Loge seats are $85! These used to be called Reserve Grandstand and went for maybe $15. Back when I was a kid my dad took me and my family to a game for my birthday. We'd get reserve grandstand and it would cost him about 90-bucks before any hot dogs were eaten. Today he'd be looking at $510! My dad was a pharmacist and my mom a school teacher. The $90 was do-able, but not every week. $510 would have been out of the question. I wonder what pharmacists and teachers think about the $510 today. Maybe it's all relative, but it doesn't look like it to me. Now when you add the ticket resellers to the equation, "forgetta-bout-it!" I say yes, resign Manny when the day comes. He'd like to end his career in a Red Sox uniform and have his number retired. I'd like to see that happen, too. That's the stuff that makes a franchise feel like family as opposed to some company. Manny is good enough to always be productive. If he's being loyal to the Red Sox and doesn't ask for an outrageous amount of money, I say return the loyalty and resign him. Plus Manny wants a job at NESN when he retires. LOL We want to keep him around for that. Right? I wonder if the Remdawg is looking over his shoulder. Actually, I'd love to see Manny trying to interview the players. That would be hilarious! Manny being Manny! LOL

That is fantastic! I think Schilling is a classy guy and would have hated to see him leave. I'll never forget the bloody sock performance in 2004! It must be great having him on the team for the young pitchers. Who knows, maybe if Farrell gets a managers position after the 2008 season, Schilling could become a pitching coach.

Tonight NESN reported that A-Rod is saying the Red Sox are his 1st choice of the teams he would like to sign with. He said they have the best chance of winning multiple championships. Epstein said he hasn't spoken with Boras and that their priority is to resign Mike Lowell. Even though a line-up of Ellsbury, Pedroia, A-Rod, Ortiz, Ramirez, Drew, Youk, Tek, & Lugo looks pretty powerful, I prefer Mike Lowell. Signing A-Rod could create a lot of problems on a team that has great chemistry. Big Papi, Manny Ramirez and V-Tek have all been vocal about resigning Lowell. I bet they really wouldn't be happy with A-Rod on their team. Although, these guys are obviously all professionals and pros play to their ability regardless of soap opera stuff. I felt that the V-Tek, A-Rod scuffle in 2004 was one of the coolest things ever. The Sox really got going from that point forward. I'd hate to see any sting go out of V-Tek's jab to A-Rod's chops. I can just see V-Tek and A-Rod kissing and making-up on opening day...makes me want to puke! Let's resign Lowell! Go Red Sox 2008!!!!!!!!

Thanks all for the welcomes. 700, I love your avatar! The Godfather is my absolute favorite movie. I was just watching 1 & 2 yesterday on DVD. Poor Luca, not only did he choke, but he also really messed-up his hand pretty good. Do you think the Yankees will copy Luca's sleepping arrangements, as well as, his choking ability? I'd have to bet that there is still a little room amongst the fishes in the old Hudson for the Yanks.

Hello, Red Sox fans! I'm an older guy, but I'm new here and I'm taking the advice of the forum admin and introducing myself. I've been a diehard Red Sox fan since 1965 when my Dad took me and my Brother to Fenway Park for a double-header against the Angels. It was a beautiful spring day and we got to the park early to watch BP. I was 6-years old and my little Brother was only 4! My poor Dad. I don't know what he was thinking. He sure was optimistic. After watching about a half-hour or so of infield and BP, my brother asked my Dad if we were leaving soon. Can you picture that? We're at a double-header and before BP of the first game is done my brother has had enough. It's funny now. But it must have been pretty frustrating for my Dad at the time. We did make it through the first game which the Sox won and to about the 4th-inning of the second before we bailed. I don't remember the outcome of the second game. But I recall taking the T and a bus back to my Nana's in Watertown. My brother and I used the red, white & blue megaphone popcorn containers we got at Fenway to announce the results of game one to everyone we passed on the streets. I remember being in the 3rd-grade in 1967 and watching the last games of the season in the classroom at school. Back then MLB played many of the games during the day and the nuns at Our Lady of Victories were faithful Red Sox fans. School work became an impossible nightmare while the Sox were in the middle of the impossible dream. The nuns were nice enough to bring a TV into the classroom so we all could watch the games instead of doing schoolwork! I also remember being very young and listening to some of the Red Sox west coast games on the radio at night in bed. I would have my transistor radio right up tight to my ear and I'd be under the blanket so my Mom wouldn't catch me. Some of those games were pretty late for a school night. Too often the Red Sox would have a decent lead going into the last couple of innings and then blow it. I seem to recall pitchers like Ray Culp, Sonny Siebert, Sparky Lyle or maybe Lee Stange on the mound and Gerry Moses behind the plate. The Sox would have maybe a one-run lead and then they'd walk or hit an Angels or Athletics batter. The runner would wind-up on first and be taking a lead. Ned Martin or Ken Coleman the Red Sox broadcasters would be calling the play-by-play. I'd be pretty tired and trying to stay awake to hear the final out of the game and of course hoping for a Red Sox victory. I had the extra nervous energy from trying to avoid my Mom catching me and making me turn off my radio. Then the announcers would say something like this. "The count's 2-balls, 1-strike, 1-out and man on first. Culp checks Cardenal the runner at first. He winds, throws...there goes Cardenal, the pitch is in the dirt. Moses digs it out and pegs the ball...it got away from him and sails into right-center. Cardenal's rounding third. He's going to score easily. There's the tying run." Of course the opponent,in this case the Angels, would go on to score the go ahead or winning run. I'd be lying there in disbelief with tears welling in my eyes. I'd have a lump in my throat and of course a broken heart. I really lived and died on this team and this sort of thing would happen all too often. Even Yaz or Boomer would pop-out or whiff too often in the clutch. I'll tell you, Big Papi is worth his weight in gold to me! As a kid I use to think I had some weird influence on the outcome of the games. I guess I still do. If I didn't pay attention with 100% concentration, I could be the reason they'd lose. If I did something bad, God got me back by giving the Sox a loss. The Red Sox weren't cursed, I was! Well I guess 2004 proved we're not cursed; at least anymore! In fact I feel blessed. In 1991 I got to take my son to his first game and we attend at least a couple of games together each year now. When I was a kid my parents took me to a game every year for my birthday. My son is expecting his first son to be born very soon and I can't wait to take my grandson to his first game with his dad! My wife and I watch every game together on TV thanks to the DVR. She and I got married in 2004 and I attribute the Red Sox World Series victory to her! Can you imagine she first started watching the Red Sox in 2004! They certainly have had a great record since she became a fan and started watching. She is a great fan, too. She knows a lot about every player and understands just about everthing about the game from asking many good questions. I'm so lucky she's turned into a real fanatic. She never misses a game and even watches replays of the 2004 post season frequently on DVD. Even our dog watches the games with great attention. He holds a stuffed baseball in his mouth and watches every pitch from the couch. Whenever the Red Sox score or get a good hit he barks and jumps with great enthusiasim. Oddly he knows the difference between a Red Sox hit and there opponent's. He love it when they all jump together in a group at home plate! Okay, that's enough...or really too much! Hello All and Go Red Sox in 2008!!!!!!!!!!