Happy Father's Day!

To celebrate this Sunday, I thought I'd post pictures of the Red Sox with their dads, and stories from the Sox about their dads.

Terry Francona and his dad Tito:

Picture this scene. Tito pulls into the driveway after a long day at the office. It's one of those steamy St. Louis afternoons. Before he can even get in the door, Terry, with a baseball glove handy for both father and son, is pushing him back out.

"I'd have my glove waiting and a glove for him," said Terry Francona. "And he'd go out and play catch with me or hit me fly balls. Then when I got older and I started playing, I remember thinking, 'My goodness, my dad came home from the ballpark, he was exhausted, and he would play catch with me.' I waited for him on the doorstep. I never knew if he had played good or played bad when he got home. I hope that taught me a lot of lessons with my children."

As tired as Tito might have been some days, how could he say no to such a well-meaning request?

"I remember coming home after a doubleheader and he'd be sitting there with his glove and say, 'Let's go Dad.' I couldn't turn him down," said Tito Francona via telephone from his Pittsburgh home.

Sean Casey and his dad Jim:

His freshman year of high school when his dad pulled him out of class for a few days to go down to Spring Training in Florida. The two went to Bradenton and Winter Haven to do a little scouting of the Bucs, though Casey remembers the trip just as much for "the bunch of father-son things" they did.

"It was just an awesome time," Casey said.

From their breakfasts at a local diner, where Jim laughingly recalls Sean ordering a plate of sausage and biscuits "big enough to feed seven men" to playing video games together at night.

"I tell you what, that's one of the greatest memories I have of my dad," Casey said. "Looking back at that time, I just thought it was so great that we could spend a whole week doing that "And the great thing about baseball is that it is a father-son game. A lot of the good memories I have of my dad are with baseball. It brings the family together."

"And to me, that's the definition of baseball," said Jim, Sean's father.

Mike Lowell, and his dad Carl:

The truth is, Lowell gets flooded with happy emotions when he thinks about the type of example his father set for him, and how much of an impact he's made on his life.

"I could easily say he's been the most influential person for me, not just baseball-wise," said Lowell. "I think as you get older, you might appreciate more what he did. I think he just always put family first and I'd love to feel like that molded me because I try to say that there's more to me than just the guy who goes on TV and plays baseball."

Sure, Lowell is the one who has gone on to great success in Major League Baseball, playing big roles in championship runs for two different franchises. But what means the world to him is that Carl Lowell is equally proud of all four of his kids.

"When they ask him, 'Are you proud of your son and all that,' I think he always says, 'Which son?'. I get choked up on that," said Lowell, tears welling up in his eyes. "He says, I'm the public son but he's got four kids. He loves us the same, so that's huge."

Jed Lowrie's dad

Jon Lester's dad

Dustin Pedroia's dad

Mike Lowell was interviewed last night on local FOX here in Boston, and talked about everything from playing for the Sox to surviving cancer to writing a book. But the best part is when he talks about his father, and all the baseball memories he has with him.

So as a little bonus Father's Day treat, here's that video...

Jacoby Ellsbury is about to get arrested for committing horrible, unspeakable crimes of theft against pitchers and catchers across the country.

Over the weekend, in the Sox-Reds series in Cincinnati, Jacoby broke the 100 year-old record for stolen bases by a Red Sox rookie. In a season. It took Amby McConnell (love that name) 140 games to steal 31 bases in 1908... it took Jacoby Ellsbury just 63 games to steal 32 bases (and then 33 bases) in 2008. Take that, Amby!

More Jacoby fleet-flooted stat tidbits: Jacoby has stolen 14 bases over his last 14 starts, he has only been caught stealing 3 times (so, 33 in 36 attempts), and he is 7 for 7 when he attempts to steal third. Oh, yeah - and he's also leading the league in stolen bases.

When asked about breaking the Red Sox rookie record, Jacoby said:

It's pretty neat, a 100-year-old record with the Red Sox, the tradition, to break a record like that is pretty special.

Next up in Jacoby's sights: the American League record for stolen bases by a rookie -- currently set by Kenny Lofton in 1992 at 66 SBs. Past that, the major league record is 110 stolen bases, set by Vince Coleman for the Cardinals in 1985.

"If the opportunity is there I'll go. I don't want to force anything. If it's a good situation for me to go in, I'll take advantage of it. I could steal more bases but I'm not going to go just to go. I want to pick quality stolen-base attempts. I hope I get 60, but I want to let the game dictate what happens."

Remember when we wondered what exactly the State Farm and MLB folks were going to do with their cool Call Your Shot promotion when Big Papi went down with an injury? Wonder no more- they've implemented a backup plan to make sure the promotion rolls on- except now instead of David Ortiz, you get to pick a spot for TWO of the Home Run Derby participants to hit a ball to.

State Farm and Major League Baseball have partnered to launch the Call Your Shot consumer promotion taking place the State Farm Home Run Derby. Here's how the promotion works: Fans can enter the promotion daily through June 24 at www.sfCallYourShot.com/2008. The grand prize winner of Call Your Shot will win:

* All-expense paid trip for four to the All-Star Game and State Farm Home Run Derby
* First class hotel accommodations in New York
* Tickets to a Broadway show
* $1,000 MasterCard gift card

The grand prize winner will also get the chance to pick a spot where two of the Home Run Derby players must compete to try to hit a ball to. If the first player hits the ball to the called spot, the promotion ends. If either player succeeds, the fan receives a 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe hybrid vehicle and a 2009 season-ticket package for any team.

Additionally, 10 fans will win first place prizes consisting of a $300 MLB.com gift card and 25 second prize winners will receive $100 MLB.com gift cards.

You can register for the contest here until next Tuesday... good luck!

In which I highlight noteworthy blogs for you to gather reconnaissance on the Red Sox upcoming opponent. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Beer Leaguer: premier Phillies site - super-quick with news, fantastic game threads and extremely knowledgeable commenters The 700 Level: Enrico's blog covers the Iggles and Sixers and Flyers as well, but his Phillies work is genius - it's very "Red Sox Monster"-ish with funny news bits and videos The Sexy Crimes: two guys from Canada explore their man-crush on Pat Burrell - wickedly funny Plunk Chutley: hilarious blog about random Phillies ephemera- and the best Phils blog around (I may be biased since Clare is a good friend of mine... but that doesn't make me wrong)

When your opponent smashes two taters against you in the first inning, you get an inkling it's going to be a tough game. When their two slowest, lumbering players each leg out a triple, you know it's gonna be a long night. But when your starting pitcher whiffs himself around on a pitch at the plate so hard that he knocks himself out of his batter's helmet... it's pretty clear it's not going to be your kind of day.

It could only get worse if that same starting pitcher somehow hurt himself swinging wildly at those pitches... oh, wait- he did. Hooray!

Jerry Remy and Don Orsillo are some kind of soothsayers, both guessing that Bartolo Colon would be swinging away... and foreshadowing Colon getting injured on that swing by talking about Chien-Ming Wang going on the DL until (at least) September.

You know what the surefire cure is for a case of the ho-hums the day after a crappy ballgame? Pictures of your favorite Sox players partying after winning the World Series! I have no idea who took these, or why they've been buried so long, or why Jonathan Papelbon isn't featured prominently... all I know is, they are glorious.

Hat tip to Don Chavez for posting the photos first.

Everyone is drinking the J.D. Drew Kool-Aid these days. (tastes like strawberry!) Not so long ago, people were booing him and calling him "Nancy" and throwing water bottles at him... wait, that last one was Eric Gagne. People wore #7 shirts ironically and thought up new and inventive jeers to holler at him from the right field bleachers.

Not anymore.

Batting a cool .441 from the 3-spot, covering a Papi-sized hole, and notching 9 homers, 21 RBI, 7 doubles, 2 triples and 14 walks in 17 games will do that for a guy. Yesterday afternoon, against the boo-filled Philly crowd, he went 4-for-5... including a spectacular 3-run bomb.

The Kool-Aid level has risen so high, he's drawing comparisons to Carl Yastrzemski. Even the New York Times is paying homage.

I'm happy Drew Kool-Aid has become popular mostly because I'm just a big ol' sap, and therefore I'm a sucker for all the stories about his kid. From the Herald (condensed):

"I talked to [son Jack] on the phone last night," the Red Sox outfielder after his team's 9-0 win over the Reds at Great American Ball Park, "and he said, 'Daddy, hit a home run tomorrow.' I don't even think he knows what a home run is, but it's still pretty neat."

Drew obliged his 2-year-old son.

[I]t also provided the perfect punctuation for a yearlong story he wished never had to be told.

As he prepared to leave the park yesterday, Drew's life couldn't have been more different than it was on Father's Day a year ago. Around this time last year, when Drew mired in his struggles with a new team (hitting .241 with just four homers through June 15), he also had to start staring down his firstborn's newfound health problems.

"I did think about it when I was going back on the field," Drew said of his son's home run demand from the night before. My family is by far the joy of my life. I look forward to getting home to them as quick as I can, and being with my family as much as I can."

Drew said that the current happiness at home "maybe" has something to do with his recent tear, in which he has hit .447 (21-for-47) in his last 14 games. But, no matter the cause, the 32-year-old has put himself in an ideal position.

His son asked him to hit a home run on Father's Day, so he did it.

There was at least one Boston fan who was disappointed the Celtics beat the Lakers to claim the 2008 NBA Championship... Kevin Millar.

It seems Mr. Millar, late of the Boston Red Sox and currently with the Baltimore Orioles (although obviously he still considers himself part of Boston), made an ill-advised bet with an unnamed member of the Red Sox team on the outcome of the Finals. Unconfirmed reports can't specify whether the Sox player in question was Jason Varitek or Tim Wakefield - but apparently, Kev bet against the Celtics.

And this was the result:

Apparently, not only did he have to bleach his hair blonde (fancy!) -- but he also had to change his at-bat music. To "Ice Ice Baby". Oh, yeah. Behold the majesty...

Bravo, Varitek or Wakefield or whatever Sox player actually made the bet (considering Millar's basketball buddy last week was Big Papi, I'm thinking he might be the culprit). Bravo.

Hat tip to Bromoblog for the inside scoop.

In which I highlight noteworthy blogs for you to gather reconnaissance on the Red Sox upcoming opponent. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Rockin' The Red: insightful analysis on the Cards, and timely news updates Fungoes: a look at the Cardinals from a sabermetrics point of view Viva El Birdos: SBN site that's updated daily with all the latest news & happenings Cardinals Diaspora: not just your average news site - the Cards with a twist of humor

The Curt Schilling era in Boston may be at an end.

In his usual manner of delivering news, Curt told WEEI this morning that the "plateau" of pain he experienced throwing during his side session last week is much more than that -- he's going to need season-ending surgery. Although he's not exactly sure what kind of surgery that will be.

According to Schilling, the procedure will involve a relocating of the biceps muscle, plus "some other stuff," Schilling said. When asked if that "other stuff" might entail repair to the labrum and rotator cuff, Schilling wouldn't speculate, saying that would be determined after he went under the knife.

Curt seems to be pretty realistic regarding what this surgery will mean for him:

"There's a chance a lot of things could happen here. My season's over. There's a pretty decent chance that I've thrown my last pitch forever, so I don't care. It doesn't matter. I'm going in to make it not hurt anymore, which is pretty much all I care about."

"Off of surgery there's two other possibilities, two potentials, which was I could wake up after the surgery and be told 'you know what, it's been a good run, you got no shot of getting back out there' which is something I've ... had to be OK with because it's a potentially likely scenario," he said. "And the other one is, we fixed it but whatever happens between now and when you decide to pitch again, it's going to be five times as much than you ever had to do from a rehabilitation standpoint. Those are the two surgery results.

"The second option to me was my career's over today. If I don't have surgery, my career's over today. So, I've had to sit back and weigh those options and figure out what we wanted to do."

If something happens in Curt Schilling's world, and he doesn't blog about it, I don't think it ever really happened. But since he's confirmed the season-ending shoulder surgery over at 38pitches, it's safe to say... yep, this is really happening.

His blog entry is written like a man who thinks the journey over and is saying goodbye - he talks about the possibility that he could emerge from the surgery with another shot at playing ball, but it doesn't sound like he really believes that's what will happen. So most of his post is summing up his 22-year career and saying au revoir to the fans.

To you fans, thank you, thank you, thank you. If it is all over, every single moment and memory I'll take away from my career comes with your involvement and support. More athletes than you know recognize this and appreciate it. The 4 years I was allowed the honor of wearing [the Red Sox] uniform I would hope you believe I did so with honor, integrity and respect, for the game but more importantly for my manager, coaches and teammates.

The game was here for well over a hundred years before I came along, and will be for that and more after I am gone, it owes Curt Schilling absolutely nothing, it gave me far more than I ever gave it.

If this was my last shot, and it is over, I wouldn't change a thing (ok well that's not totally true because I WOULD push rewind, go back to a few instances and shut my mouth, but hey we can't all be perfect) that happened to me, with me or on any teams I played on. In 22 years I would say I had the honor of playing with some of the greatest of all time, and at most 3-4 really bad people, that's not a bad thing.

vs. St. Louis Cardinals 7:05 pm Fenway Park - Boston, MA SP: Tim Wakefield vs. Kyle Lohse tv/radio: NESN - MLB.TV - WRKO

Don't forget: you have until 9pm Eastern tonight to vote and support Ian (from Sox & Dawgs) for governor of CT in RSN.

Sometimes a rain delay can be a good thing... a very good thing.

When it gives your closer and relief pitcher an opportunity to showcase their video lip synching to Milli Vanilli's "Blame It On The Rain", it's a very good thing indeed. Glorious, even.

I give you... Jonathan Papelbon and Manny Delcarmen.

This is the entire "musical video" performance (and I use that term loosely), not just the portion shown during the game. Best parts? Papelbon getting a bucket of water thrown on him... and watching the reaction of the guys in the dugout while the video was shown.