zen archer

Saturday NESN (new england sports network) had a two hour LIVE special from Fort Myers . Francona and Tek both sat in front of the media ,Francona said that Wakefield was experiencing some lower back stiffness...he didn't think it was any thing to worry about ..But we have been down this road before with Wake.

BUMP....... Teagarden Mosaic added

$500 a year to host is way too much , I pay $119 at Network Solutions and have never had a problem!

I bet Johnny Damon used steroids when he started with KC he had a body like Jacoby Ellsbury but by the time of the 04 season he was much bulkier ....and didn't the players say he did chin ups naked in the clubhouse. and what about Gabe Kapler , i know on WEEI he denied ever using roids but wasn't he on the same team with Canseco and A-Rod ?

Fenway will be full of signs that read ....A-Roid....this summah !

I thought John Henry bought the Sox for 700 million ?......they are listing it at 380 million ?

John Henry just flew down to Georgia to meet with Varitek .....look for him to dump Boras and sign deal.

Rice had 137 assists ! Dwight Evans had 157! Assists are one of those stats where a lot of funny things can happen. If someone like Clemente, Vlad, Dwight Evans has a great arm runners are less likely to run, thus resulting in fewer opportunities for the outfielder to get an assist. There are certain years where guys who have average to less than average arms actually run up high assist totals, simply because the 3rd base coach sends more runners knowing that the OF has a subpar arm. Also Rice played in a short LF. The distance from LF to home is shorter than any other AL park. Dewey is my Favorite Right Fielder of ALL TIME .....i am just posting stats that are a surprising i never knew Jim had that many assist.

Manny in 16 years has 1667 strikeouts and has hit into 230 double plays Rice in 16 years had 1423 strikeouts and hit into 315 double plays . BUT remember Rice suffered his last 3 seasons with bad knees. Those are interesting stats....so Rice hit into on average 5 more double plays per year than Manny .

So what? He WALKS more and also usually misses 10 games a year. He also has had hit for a much higher average than Rice, higher OBP, slugs more. He's also hit a lot more HRs lifetime than Rice. I don't mean to belittle Rice's career, but there are more important things than having 200 hits in a year when it comes to being a great hitter. All i am saying is that it is impressive to hit 35 plus HR and put up 200 hits , lets see Ichiro do that. Yesterday at the press conference they asked Jim about his OBP and he said ..."The Mailman Walks"......nuff said!

Rice had 137 assists !

75 Triples is a lot , again Manny has 18 for his career .......Hustle counts !

That's nice ???????.......He is the only player to do that in the Majors ever ! The key in that stat is HITS you just don't see guys hitting that many HR's and 200 hits....i just looked up Manny's Career Stats and he has never had a 200 hit year !!!!!..NEVER and we (Red Sox Nation) think he is the best hitter we have ever seen?

BUMP

I disagree with you on Jim Rice ....check out these stats : Dick Bresciani, the Vice President of Publications & Archives with the Boston Red Sox, recently mailed out his arguments for the inclusion of Jim Rice in the Baseball Hall of Fame (an argument with which I agree, by the way). Bresc's many points were very compelling. Here are but a few: CAREER (1974-1989) Led A.L. with 382 HR and 1451 RBI in his 16-year career, all with Boston. Rare Power & Average: Seventeen players with 300+ HR and a career AVG as high as Rice have been on the HOF ballot. All but Rice are HOF: Aaron, Brett, DiMaggio, Foxx, Gehrig, Greenberg, Hornsby, Klein, Mantle, Mays, Mize, Musial, Ott, Rice, Ruth, A. Simmons, T. Williams. 8-time All-Star 8-time 100 RBI 7-time .300 hitter 6-time Top 5 in A.L. MVP – more than anyone else during Rice’s career (Murray 5) 4-time A.L. TB leader 3-time A.L. HR leader 1978 A.L. MVP (.315 AVG, 46 HR, 139 RBI, 406 TB, .600 SLG, 213 H, 15 3B) Only M.L. player to lead either league outright in 3B, HR, and RBI Only A.L. player with 400+ TB since 1937 (Joe DiMaggio) A.L. record for biggest margin in TB (113 over Murray) Only A.L. player with 46+ HR between ’69 (Killebrew) and ’87 (McGwire) 3-YEAR STRETCH (1977-1979) Only player in M.L. history with 3 straight seasons of 35+ HR and 200+ hits Tied A.L. record of 3 consecutive years as TB leader (Williams, Cobb) Ruth and Foxx are the others in A.L. with 3+ straight 39+ HR, .315 seasons. A DOZEN YEARS OF DOMINANCE (1975-1986) Twenty M.L. players have hit .300+ with 350+ HR over a 12-season stretch (Babe Ruth was the first, from 1915-1926), but Jim Rice stands alone in his dozen years (1975-86). He is the only M.L. player of his generation who accomplished the feat (linking 1974, when Hank Aaron became the career HR leader, to 2001, when Barry Bonds became the single-season HR leader). All players on the following list who have been on the Hall of Fame ballot have been elected – except for Jim Rice. From 1975 to 1986 Jim Rice was the most dominant player in the American League. During that 12-year stretch he led the league in 12 categories and ranked among the top five in two others. His numbers are indicative of a player who was dangerous in nearly every situation. He led the league over that period with 350 home runs but unlike most sluggers of his day, he ranked fourth with a .304 batting average. He collected the most hits over that time period and also ranked first with a .520 slugging percentage. He legged-out 73 triples, including 15 in 1977 and 1978, and he was the most dangerous outfielder to run on in the American League. In every category he ranks above or among existing Hall of Famers.

Well old Gator ain't getting in but the tradition will continue when Manny goes in with a Red Sox cap. The thing about Rice is that he fell of a cliff at a relatively young age. There's no doubt if he had gotten over 400 home runs and maintained the .300 BA, he'd have gone in a long time before. But his extremely marginal case was his own creation. At the same time, what I can't stand are the people who act as if the Hall is unbelievably sullied by this election, and that others will now make it who don't belong. Every choice is a new one, based on the merits. Did any writer who wrote a column about Jim Rice say "well, we elected Tony Perez, so on that basis, I couldn't deny Rice"? No - every body who voted for him looked at his numbers, stacked up against the rest of the league during those years, and said "this guy belongs". I need to keep an eye on MLB Network to see if they dig up some Rice-related game broadcasts in the coming week, or else at the end of July (same with ESPN). Would be cool to see one of those crazy games at Fenway - I seem to recall at least one where Rice, Evans, Fisk, Hobson, Lynn, Yaz and Scott all hit homers. Or most of them hit homers. Or most of them hit homers, and some of them hit more than one. On EEI they were saying that half the writers that vote don't report on the game any longer ?....thats crazy.

It's about TIME..Big Jim Ed is In !!!!

I can't quite figure out why an elbow ligament "sprain" led to a recommendation of Tommy John surgery - isn't that for when the ligament actually has a full tear? But if the ligament damage no longer shows up in an MRI and he reports "no pain", this could be a huge addition to the bullpen. How many pitchers can the Sox carry ????......it seems like the whole team is pitching !

Plus will Mo Riviera finally start to become human......how old is this guy ?

And now the Herald's Sean McAdam and Michael Silverman, Kotsay has indeed agreed in principle to a one year/1.5 million dollar contract. http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/basebal...sox#articleFull This is fine news, as we know he can back up Drew if Baldelli can't, and he's insurance if Youk has to play 3B for Lowell, particularly at the start of the season. Now if they re-sign Varitek, a bench of Baldelli/Kotsay/Lugo/Bard is pretty darn good (as long as Lugo doesn't have to play too much). Oh, and I saw that Rosenthal is reporting that the Sox still won't give up Clay for Salty, but might give up Bowden or Bard. As long as its not both, I could probably deal with that. I bet you Lugo is the starting SS on opening day !

This is GOOD News !

I guess thats good especially if he can bounce back from this surgery ....BUT what we really need is a catcher and a 4th outfielder!!!!! My guess is that Smoltz would take over Masterson's spot, and JM would return to the rotation. This frees up Buchholz for the Saltalamacchia trade. Saw this morning that they're in talks with Rocco Baldelli, which addresses the 4th OF spot nicely, IMHO. The Rocco Baldelli deal is done !

I guess thats good especially if he can bounce back from this surgery ....BUT what we really need is a catcher and a 4th outfielder!!!!!

I just read "Somebody owes me money " it was just recently re-released as part of the Hard Case Crime series.

Just found this info on a blog ...interesting..... Brad Penny - will be 30 in May, guaranteed $5 million for one year, lifetime - 1460inn., 1.34WHIP, 4.06ERA, 94-75. AJ Burnett - 32, guaranteed $82.5 million for 5 years, lifetime - 1376 inn., 1.28WHIP, 3.81ERA, 84-76. Both have injury histories. Burnett has won more than 12 games once. Penny has done it 3 times. Is Burnett worth $77 million more than Penny?