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Posted by Eric Wilbur, Boston.com Staff
October 30, 2007 10:13 AM
Cleaning up before parade day...
Perhaps it was just the timing of it all, but Sunday night’s shot of John Henry smiling at his Blackberry in the stands at Coors Field right around the same time the Alex Rodriguez story broke may have offered a hint as to the Red Sox’ interest in the former Yankee.
“Had no idea,” Henry wrote in an e-mail to the New York Times’ Richard Sandomir. “We were quite focused on the game.”
One person smiling indeed was Texas Rangers president Jeff Cogen, whose team no longer is obliged to pay the $30 million remaining on the A-Rod deal. “This is financially advantageous for us, so from that perspective, we’re pleased,” Cogen told Sandomir, but conceded that “the Red Sox were happier.”
So, this ought to be a fun winter.
This neat little tidbit comes courtesy of Surviving Grady: “The first and last pitches Hideki Okajima threw in 2007 were hit for home runs. Everything in between was pretty awesome, though.”
What does this say about the National League and the bore that the World Series has become? The San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea points out, “The past four years, we've had 17 World Series games, one over the minimum.”
Ick. The last competitive World Series was the 2003 Marlins’ win over the Yankees. In 2002 and 2001, the Series went seven games.
Wait, the Red Sox are becoming the Yankees? I hadn’t heard.
Let’s just say the Orlando Sentinel’s David Whitley sounds a little angry about having to deal with Red Sox fans following another World Series title. Some excerpts:
“There is no Richter Scale for obnoxiousness. If there were, the earth would have split at 12:05 a.m. Monday…That's when Jonathan Papelbon struck out Seth Smith, Boston won the World Series and another 14 million people became citizens of the Red Sox Nation… It's easy enough to join. All you need is to be loud, smug and have spent at least one night in jail for public intoxication.
“That's not to say all Boston fans are obnoxious people. But these days it seems all obnoxious people are Boston fans.”
“The Nation has become a superpower. The rest of us are in for a long winter, especially if we get stuck on a bus next to anyone with a B on his or her cap.”
“The best advice is to stare at the floor, mumble like Ted Kennedy at happy hour and hope the Red Sox sign A-Rod.”
Ow. A separate piece in the Sentinel chronicling our recent sporting run here, proclaims, “Chowds are on a run rarely seen in sports world.” Chowds? Is this new, and if so, can we have a recall?
Bobby Kielty, Dave Roberts. Discuss.
A pretty telling photo of Rockies veteran Todd Helton from Sunday night, standing in the bowels of Coors Field, watching the Red Sox as they celebrate their World Series win. One can only imagine it crossed his mind that he could have been out there with the Sox celebrating had the proposed trade earlier this year actually gone through.
New Red Sox fans in Madras, Ore., where they followed hometown boy Jacoby Ellsbury's run in the World Series this month, can purchase Go Jacoby Go T-shirts at the Meet Market Pub for $15. Do they send out a mailer?
Is Rudy Giuliani serious? “'I’m back to the Yankees and I’m very concerned about A-Rod. ... Fifty-four home runs, you can’t replace that.” Maybe not, but guess who is replaceable, Rudy.
Seems all the World Series travel has put a dent in the Boston fan’s wallet.
Tickets for Sunday’s Pats-Colts bout in Indy are going for a healthy $375 to $1,000 this week, but Jim Holzman, president of AceTicket.com predicts to the Indy Star that only about 300-500 New England fans will be in attendance.
"It's a hard ticket to get, and it's expensive," he said. "A lot of people from here flew to Denver for the World Series."
Florida Today columnist Peter Kerasotis somehow ties Bill Belichick and Rodriguez together. Yeah. While we’re here, can we stop with this endless nonsense about the Patriots running up the score on their opponents? This is professional football, not the Raffi All-Stars where everybody sings Judy Collins songs and finger paints. You don’t like it, here’s an idea, play better. Sorry, Greg Easterbrook that the Pats embarrassed the Dolphins, but Miami is so bad they would have only embarrassed themselves by not pounding the daylights out of them. Maybe the Red Sox should have allowed the Rockies to win a game, and maybe the Pats should be more concerned about everybody’s feelings.
I’m sure the fans will appreciate it, but if you’re Jonathan Papelbon, aren’t you just a little bit frustrated that the Red Sox and Mayor Menino have made such a big deal about you doing your Riverdance jig along today’s Rolling Rally like some sort of trained dolphin? Every time he’s asked about it you can just imagine him thinking, “If one more person asks me about this &^%$#&% dance…” But that’s what we tend to do sometimes when things have to be measured to the umpteenth degree; take the spontaneity out of those same moments.
Not sure if you heard, but you can get a free taco, somewhere, today. They should really promote these things better.
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Tom Haines
, staff travel writer at The Boston Globe, checks in regularly at Boston.com with reflections from his travels. During more than a decade as a journalist, Tom has reported on economics, politics and culture in dozens of countries and five continents.
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