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Four Red Sox greats entered the Red Sox Hall of Fame. For a few of them it may have been the precursor to Cooperstown. Your browser does not support iframes. I thought Roger Clemens might hear some boos when his name was announced. I think anyone who hasn’t forgiven Clemens for any or all of his multitude of sins sat on their hands instead of being overtly and loudly negative. When he visited the booth he showed his human side by reminiscing about his grandmother. She had been alive to witness many of accomplishments, but not this one. I don’t know if Pedro Martinez was more brilliant on the mound or with the microphone. He talked about his 17-strikeout game against the Yankees on September 10, 1999, which was commemorated in the Red Sox Hall of Fame. Martinez was mad because Joe Kerrigan got on his case for missing the pitchers’ meeting. The manager told him he had to figure out how to get Derek Jeter out on his own because he missed the meeting. “What am I going to learn, it’s the Yankees,” laughed Martinez. It reminded me of Allen Iverson’s comments about practice. The mediocre ones need repetitive...
On May 5, the day number five Nomar Garciaparra was feted, the Red Sox returned to a .500 winning percentage. The Red Sox gave Garciaparra two Fenway wooden chairs number 5 (of course) and 6 (for his mentor Johnny Pesky). He also received a watch, a rather cliched retirement gift idea for such a singular player. Current Red Sox players Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, and Tim Wakefield came out to hug him and former players Lou Merloni, Brian Daubach, and Trot Nixon made it to Fenway to be part of the celebration. The video retrospective documented the shortstop’s glove adjustments and toe taps. Before he threw out the first pitch he dashed to the infield and pocketed a handful of infield dirt. His pitch to Jason Varitek was delivered with his signature twist and side arm angle. At last the team’s philosophy of run prevention is playing out as planned. John Lackey delivered seven innings of two-hit baseball with two bases on balls and four strikeouts. The only run marring his line was Brandon Wood’s solo homer in the fifth. I hope when Lackey left the mound he looked over in Mike Scioscia’s direction and said, “This is mine.” Woods’s...
Game 99: July 28, 2009 ∙ 11 innings Athletics9W: Craig Breslow (4-4)S: Andrew Bailey (12)42-57, 1 game winning streak Red Sox8H: Ramon Ramirez (9)H: Daniel Bard (4)BS: Jonathan Papelbon (3)L: Manny Delcarmen (2-2)58-41, 1 game losing streak Highlights: During batting practice, Fenway Park organist Josh Kantor played “My Funny Valentine” and “Eight Days a Week.” I failed to note every retired number-related song performed as I got caught up soaking up the pre-game atmosphere. Number 14 jerseys, t-shirts, and caps abounded. Every few seconds fans would catch each others’ eyes and smile because we all knew that we were sharing history. I arrived at Fenway about three hours before the gates opened to take advantage of my Red Sox Nation benefit of hanging out in the Monster seats and failing to catch a home run ball. A crimson curtain hung over Jim Rice’s 14 on the right field roof, but like a kid cheating at hide-and-seek I caught a glimpse of that honored number.Nick Green jostled with a teammate in center to catch fly balls as expletive-laden songs echoed through the park. Sound booth standards are lenient when the home team takes batting practice.I preoccupied myself with trying to identify...
Game 82: July 6, 2009 Athletics6W: Brett Anderson (5-7)35-46, 2 game winning streak Red Sox0L: John Smoltz (0-2)49-33, 1 game losing streak Highlights: Rookie Anderson went the distance against makeshift lineup, allowing just two singles and two bases on balls while striking out nine. The Athletics’ premier southpaw prospect called to mind Jon Lester with his poise and repertoire. The Athletics seem to have a Big Four the making with Anderson, Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, and Vin Mazzaro on the cusp of domination. When is a win a loss?When a town has the chance to say “welcome back” to a homegrown superstar it never had the chance to say “goodbye” to.When that superstar was traded in a deadline deal to remedy the fatal flaw that kept his team from playoff contention.When a heart-breaking loss set the front office on a course to continually evaluate its team with steely reserve and make those gut-wrenching moves that pay off in a championship.If the Red Sox had won it all in 2003, it’s possible that today I would be bickering about Pedro Martinez sitting on the disabled list in the last year of his five-year, $60M contract. Or I would be bemoaning the...
Game 7: April 13, 2009 Red Sox2L: Jon Lester (0-2)2-5, 2 game losing streak Athletics8W: Dallas Braden (1-1)3-4, 1 game winning streak Highlights: The Athletics plated a season-high eight runs last night. This from a much-maligned offense that features at best one elite hitter (Matt Holliday, who must prove that his prowess was based on innate skill and not the atmospherics of his former home park, Coors Field), a pair of reclamation projects (Jason Giambi and Nomar Garciaparra), and a passel of underperformers (Ryan Sweeney, Bobby Crosby, and Rajai Davis). What was more odd, seeing another rough outing by Jon Lester or seeing Nomar Garciaparra hit against his first team in verdant green?Not surprisingly it was Garciaparra’s first time facing the Red Sox. He has been kicking around the National League since 2004. When he wasn’t on the disabled list he usually wasn’t starting, so his at bats have been few and far between.We’ll never know all that Garciaparra thought as he stood in the box against his former team. He always answered in politically correct soundbites and didn’t reveal much more in post-game interviews:The guys just need to keep swinging. We’ve been swinging the bat well, but balls haven’t...
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Photo courtesy of the Boston Public Library’s Sports Temples of Boston.