Congratulations to Daisuke Matsuzaka and his wife, Tomoyo, on their brand new baby boy - born yesterday morning at 7:30 a.m. in Boston.
This also means that after a few days in Boston with his wife and children, Dice-K will rejoin the team and be available to travel to Japan. Cheers all around!
All Sitting And No Pitching Makes Josh A Dull Boy
Josh Beckett threw today in Ft. Myers for the first time since injuring his back last weekend and kicking off BeckettWatch (also known as the day every Sox fan across the land simultaneously felt like they'd been kicked in the stomach, because we are not a calm and laid-back lot).
Hooray for Josh's return to throwing, because I have to say that I really enjoy seeing this Josh:
A whole lot more than this Josh:
Josh threw 35 pitches off of flat ground (25 at 60 feet, and 10 at 75 feet)- and, crucially, felt no pain or discomfort. Coach Farrell says Josh will move back to 90 feet tomorrow, then on to long toss on Tuesday, more flat ground on Wednesday and then back to the mound on Thursday. That would seem to indicate he'd be staying in Florida, right Tito?
"He's not going to go with us to Japan," Francona said. "Again, I think, using common sense along the way ... but you try to do things in the correct order and everything like that. Talked to him this morning about it. He completely understands."
That puts to death any chance we had at wacky Josh in Japan stories involving sushi hijinks or the Texan-to-Japanese language barrier.
Guess Who's Back? (Me!)
Things That Happened Since I Last Posted:
1. I caught my first homerun - hit by this guy off of a pitch from this guy.
2. St. Patrick's Day!
3. My computer barfed out on me. Which both prevented me from posting and from checking up on news and happenings. Which was awesomely freeing... and yet scary. But it's all better now.
4. I finally had to leave sunny Florida after 12 days and 9 ballgames. Brought home a tan, a few baseballs tossed to me at games, a motley collection of scorecards and beer cups from the various ballparks, some leftover sand, and an orange baseball. No, seriously - a baseball that looks and feels like an orange. It was the lone souvenir I bought-- commemorating the Indians last year in Florida... because who can pass up an ORANGE BASEBALL?
So I'm finally back and will be putting up catch-up posts on the fun stuff that happened while I was gone... because, it's better late than never, right?
Should They Stay Or Should They Go?
So the list of Red Sox players making the trip to Japan might look like this:
David Aardsma, Dusty Brown, Clay Buchholz, Sean Casey, Kevin Cash, Alex Cora, Bryan Corey, Coco Crisp, Manny Delcarmen, J.D. Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, Bobby Kielty, Jon Lester, Javier Lopez, Mike Lowell, Jed Lowrie, Julio Lugo, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Brandon Moss, Hideki Okajima, David Ortiz, Jonathan Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia, Manny Ramirez, Curt Schilling, Kyle Snyder, Julian Tavarez, Mike Timlin, Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield, Kevin Youkilis
Or, it might well look like this:
...
Spurred on by Mike Lowell, the Sox players met this morning and unanimously agreed to boycott today's exhibition game aganst Toronto in Ft. Myers and the entire Japan trip if the coaching and training staff are not paid their promised compensation for making the Japan trip.
"It's wrong, it's wrong," said Curt Schilling. "It was part of the basic agreement when we talked about it last year. The coaching staff was part of the conversation, we all heard it.
"It's not really surprising because the coaches and staff are people generally who have always been overlooked and undervalued."
The A's also voted, in a meeting just a short while ago, to join the boycott and skip the Japan trip.
Jason Varitek spoke from the dugout in Ft. Myers - where the entire Red Sox team is chilling on the bench, refusing to take the field - confirming Mike Lowell's report that the team will not play until the issue is resolved. Both Jason and Curt Schilling also made reference to multiple other things that were promised to the club in compensation for the Japan trip that have "fallen by the wayside" (in Jason's words). What kinds of things? Per Curt:
Different personal things that were supposed to happen from an accommodations standpoint. Little things that tend to make trips like this easier. It's been more than one thing.
As Remy and Orsillo just pointed out - the teams who have made the trip to Japan before (Yankees, Rays, etc.) have always had their staff financially compensated.
Frankly, I think this move by MLB is horseshit. Plain and simple. It deserves no more eloquent description than that.
Gameday Open Thread: Blue Jays
Red Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays
12:05 pm
City of Palms Park - Ft. Myers
SP: Daisuke Matsuzaka David Aardsma
tv/radio: NESN - ESPN - MLB.TV - WEEI
The Sox tune up one last time before leaving for Japan (or will they?) - as Dice-K David Aardsma takes the ball for the Sox against a random assortment of relievers pitching for the Jays.
Use the comments to this entry as your own personal Gameday open thread. These open threads have been fun so far - so I'll keep 'em up as long as y'all are interested in having them.
Varitek & Schilling's Norma Rae Moment
Speaking from the dugout to a gaggle of reporters earlier this afternoon, Jason Varitek discussed the now-resolved coaches compensation issue. Curt Schilling also held court on the field and discussed his thoughts on the boycott.
Here's the video of Jason- the video of Curt is after the jump.
Don't worry- all of the Sox luggage will soon be winging its way to Japan as planned.
Oh, and the players too.
Per the Herald, the Red Sox prevailed on Major League Baseball to "relent and compensate all personnel in an appropriate fashion." After a morning filled with controversy and Norma Rae-esque standoffs, the Sox coaches and staff will now be getting paid an undisclosed amount which is more than the undisclosed amount they were going to be paid previously. That clears that right up! Ever the eloquent speaker, Curt Schilling confirmed reports.
When asked if the team got what it wanted, Sox pitcher Curt Schilling responded in a text message, "Yes."
Only thing in that picture that won't make it on the plane to Japan? The guy in the top right corner. [insert sad face here]
On Their Way
The Red Sox (minus Josh Beckett and Craig Breslow) have officially left the building. They're winging their way towards Japan tonight, scheduled to land at around 10 a.m. (our time) tomorrow morning. They made a pit stop in my fair city of Chicago earlier this evening, before heading out on the near-12 hour flight to Tokyo.
The quote of the day has to go to Japan game 1 starter Daisuke Matsuzaka - who left the City of Palms Park this afternoon during the boycott delay and headed out to pitch at the minor league complex. When Japanese reporters asked Dice-K why he was leaving, he responded: "I was cut." Look at Dice, busting out the jokes. I think he's just giddy he's leaving for Japan and won't have to change poopy diapers for a couple of weeks.
And in the "worth 1000 words" department, the photo of the day has to go to Manny Ramirez - it's the frowny face that makes it art.
Josh Beckett Doesn't Cotton To Timetables
Remember when Josh Beckettwasn't supposed to throw off the mound until Thursday? Well, he thinks you can take your silly timetables for recovery and stuff 'em. Timetables are for weaklings. For mortals. Josh Beckett will throw off the mound when he's gosh darned good and ready!
And that day was today-- after a game of long toss, Josh threw a bullpen session of 45 pitches off the mound. Per Coach Farrell:
In Beckett's bullpen this morning, he proved that there were no restrictions when he got on the mound. He went through his 45-pitch bullpen today, and surprisingly the arm strength hasn't suffered that much of a setback. Granted, it was just a bullpen. But I think the first step toward his game progression will likely go through another bullpen.
But really, this post is just a shameful excuse to post this gem of a Beckett photoshop, courtesy of Boston Dirt Dogs. I'm counting it as a late St. Patrick's Day present, since I wasn't able to post here on St. Pat's Day.
Why is it that Beckett's smiling mug doesn't look at all out of place atop a leprechaun ensemble?
Pedroia Likes It Spicy
You know what would make an excellent complement to a nice glass of Manny Being Merlot or a tall tumbler of SlumpBuster energy drink? Some chips and salsa, of course. But not just any salsa... Dustin Pedroia Black Bean and Corn Salsa.
That is not a photoshop, it is an honest-to-god new product currently being sold, at a price of about $3 a jar. I have to think Dustin takes offense that they only sell it in 'mild' and 'medium' varieties... because Dustin is clearly neither mild nor medium. He is "EXTRA EFFIN' HOT AND SPICY"-- just ask him. Or watch him.
The same company producing Dustin salsa also previously produced Pedro Martinez salsa and David Ortiz salsa as well. Collect the whole set!
Surely old stale salsa will only appreciate in value, right?
10 Things That Are Awesome
A photo essay, entitled: "10 Things That Are Awesome".
Buried in Dan Shaughnessy's article about the Red Sox flight over to Japan, we all learned something very important about Kyle Snyder: he knows how to work a celery suit.
It took more than an hour to load the aircraft with assorted bags, bats, balls, a car-seat for 5-month old Manny Delcarmen Jr., eight cases of Red Bull (four regular and four sugar free), and the Wally the Green Monster suit.
"We have the costume, but we don't have Wally yet," said Sox executive Meg Vaillancourt. "Any volunteers?"
"I did that once already," said Kyle Snyder. "When I pitched in Wilmington, I was Mr. Celery for one game. It was hot in there."
Yep, it seems that for one brief shining moment, Kyle Snyder was Mr. Celery.
Now it all makes so much sense why Mr. Celery lists Kyle as his "Favorite Person in Baseball".
Red Sox Baby Album - Update #2
It's time to add another couple of cute baby photos to our Red Sox Baby Album - another new photo of Mike Lowell at age 9, and the first baby photo of Jon Lester (with his younger cousin riding piggyback).
GO HERE for the full Red Sox Baby Album-- the new photos are included. And if you ever run across a photo of any of the Sox as kids growing up, please send it my way and I'll add it to the album!
Cover Boys
Well, lookie what we got here - we got ourselves a couple of snazzy cover boys.
I opened my mailbox today to find a giant squinty Jonathan Papelbon staring out at me from the cover of the latest issue of The Sporting News. He's wearing an expression that's a weird cross between a snarl and a grin. It's a grarl. Or a snin.
And then there's Mike Lowell - who garnered himself not one, but TWO covers of the Improper Bostonian. He's lounging in jeans and a tshirt on one, and modeling the GQ suit look on the other.
Of course, wherever there are Red Sox players appearing in magazines, one Mr. Josh Beckett isn't far behind. He's not gonna let them hog the spotlight. In the very same issue of The Sporting News for which Papelbon graces the cover, Josh appears in two advertisements inside-- for TBS baseball, and the new Major League Baseball 2K8 video game.
You can click on most of those pictures to see bigger versions.
Worst. Wild Pitch. Ever.
Last night's game against the Hanshin Tigers in Tokyo was epic. The 11:00 pm start time. The dueling national anthems. The boom sticks. The constant chants and fight songs. The lack of helpful graphics and scoreboard on the screen. The two rows of bowling alley seats in the dugouts. The homeruns from Big Papi and J.D. Drew. The typical closing shutdown by Papelbon. Watching a broadcast entirely in Japanese, and still- somehow- kind of sort of understanding what they were saying, just from the inflection of their voices.
But, oddly enough, the highlight of the game has to be one of the worst moments of the game. The kind of thing that, were this a regular season game, would give us all fits.
Kyle Snyder's wild pitch. And I do mean WILD.
The ball smacks the dirt way in front of the left-hand batter's box, and careens off of Jason Varitek's chest and completely off camera. The gleeful reactions of the Japanese broadcast crew are priceless. The pitch is so horrible, it's beautiful; so awful, it's awesome.
I've got video of the Wild Pitch of Doom-- and I included the entire at-bat so you could see some of the atmosphere in Tokyo. (if you want to go straight to the WP, try the 2:00 minute mark.)
video courtesy of MLB
Babies Are Not Big Fans of Papelbon
Awww, look- how sweet! Jonathan Papelbon and a cute little Red Sox baby in Japan! Even though he's holding the baby like a sack of potatoes (or like the kid just pooped his pants), it's still awful precious. I'm not one to coo over babies, but even I can't help but smile looking at that photo.
Not so fast my friend... seems someone isn't smiling.
I think the baby just saw that photo with the black lace shirt. Don't worry, kid - that shirt made me want to holler and cry, too.
