I’m With Seymour

Posted by Chris Collins September 10, 2009 at 9:39 am

According to Raiders head coach Tom Cable, Richard Seymour told him he wanted to play in Oakland. Really? He has a funny way of showing it.

It’s hard for a man his size, 6′6″, well over 315 pounds to just be missing, but that’s exactly what Seymour is. Oh yeh he has now gone missing for several days and the rescue party has repeatedly tried to contact his agent Eugene Parker, but in a strange twist of fate Parker is missing too.

What seemed like another Belichick fleecing of the Raiders, the Pats clearly trying to get younger, hit a stumbling block during their pilgrimage. That block was the big Sey.

Somebody failed to communicate the plan to Seymour and the big fella is down right angry and honestly I dont blame him.

I wouldn’t want to play for Oakland either. As a matter of fact, even if Oakland was just a few miles away as opposed to a few thousand miles away ….still are you crazy?

I’m not reporting either unless their is a premium put on my move and I’m not just talking about full moving expenses. Oh no, they are going to have to pay the big man to put this whole bizarro trade in motion again.

If Wagner Helps, Bring Him In

Posted by Chris Collins August 25, 2009 at 10:13 am

This is shaping up to be a wild finish.

Sure, I still believe the Red Sox are the best team out of the wild card contenders, but when you look at the numbers, no team has really distinguished themselves as the clear front runner.

So with that said, teams are still trying to make deals to get any type of edge like Billy Wagner.

Now Jonathan Papelbon being Jonathan Papelbon spoke his mind as he always does over the weekend.

And when he spoke up and he didn’t exactly endorse a potential signing of Wagner.

You can understand where he is coming from considering the disaster that was Eric Gagne.

Now, since Paps initial comments, he has really backed of his initial remarks and suddenly has become a big fan of the deal.

Regardless of what happened in years past, the goal is always the same, to try to improve the team and if Wagner can do that please bring him in. But I think ultimately as we saw last night, the Red Sox season will be decided at the start of the game and not the end of it.

So if Billy Wagner could start, I think Pap would be celebrating as opposed to back tracking.

Signing with the Enemy

Posted by Chris Collins August 19, 2009 at 10:43 am

It would be tough to take a bigger dump on one’s legacy without getting involved with drugs or some major scandal then what Brett Farve has done with this retiring, unretiring non-sense.

The once great could do no wrong, but now Favre has fallen from grace.

There was time time not so long ago where Favre could’ve bought the whole state of Wisconsin for a dollar and the cheese heads would’ve gladly made that deal, but now the cheese heads feeling a bit cheesy right now. The way their future Hall of Fame quarterback hasn’t paid the Packer nation a great deal of respect and as this world turns, we find out more and more on exactly how little respect Favre has paid his teammates in the past.

Apparently the Favre way was the selfish way, and I have to admit to seeing some of that when I was in Milwaukee covering the Packers for two years, but i’m sure that was just the beginning.

He has earned his place in history, but the circus he has created for two straight years now is a joke and considering that he has only won three playoff games in the last decade, you would think it would have humbled the old guy just a bit, but clearly not. Sad so sad.

Smoltz Needs to Shine Tonight

Posted by Chris Collins August 6, 2009 at 10:03 am

Paul Byrd flying back into Red Sox nation isn’t quite the pitcher I, for one was looking for.

The Red Sox add yet another arm to the greatest collection of number four and five starters in MLB. No doubt the bottom end of the rotation is crowded.

So let’s be real here. Another one of those guys living in the basement is tonight’s starter John Smoltz.

Now his post game rhetoric hasn’t matched his in game performance.
Oh no, he has been talking like he is putting up goose eggs on the scoreboard, but darn, the goose eggs have been hard to find.

But to his credit, he has shown at times that he can still get big league hitters out. Four out his six starts he has struck out five or more batters. But as many good pitches as Smotlz makes, he makes nearly as many bad ones.

Pitching is like buying a house or starting a business location and Smoltz is great for one pitch and lousy for the next.

So tonight against one of the most prolific offenses in the game Smoltz has no choice but to find the old Smoltz or it will be an early night.

The thing about the future Hall of Famer is that he is a competitor and on this stage with the Sox falling in the AL East, the Sox need this win. So in this environment if there is anything left in John Smoltz expect to see it tonight. If not, believe me Smoltz’s time in the Boston rotation maybe nearing an end.

Judgment Week

Posted by Chris Collins August 5, 2009 at 9:57 am

Ultimately nothing is going to be decided the first week in August, but this still has the makings of judgment week for your Boston Red Sox.

Two games against the defending American League champs followed by four against the front runners in the division. As a matter of fact, these are important games for all the of the contenders in the AL East.

The Rays need to stay in the race. The Yankees need to prove they can beat the Sox who are a perfect 8-0 this year against the Stripes and the Sox, well they need to find someone not named Beckett or Lester who can beat an elite team in the league and solidify the rotation.

Tonight it’s Penny’s turn followed by Smoltz in the Bronx the day after. It’s cross your fingers time because it’s impossible to feel comfortable after the first two starters.

How long will Smotlz be allowed to smolder? That question will continue to be asked after every single run he gives up.

I for one am not ready to pull the plug, but I, just like Red Sox nation are growing impatient.

But the problem remains if not Smolz then Buchholz. If not Buck, then Penny. If not Penny, then Daisuke. If not dice, then what?

Arms Race

Posted by Chris Collins August 4, 2009 at 12:15 pm

It maybe the most over used phrase in all of sports. “Step up”. Everybody, every team over and over. The cliché of stepping up has been used and over used and will be used and over used again and again.

But sometimes it’s just so darn appropriate.

The Red Sox broke camp down in Fort Myers with a pretty good feeling about what they had in their rotation as well as their bullpen.

Yes, pitching wins championships, speaking of cliches. And oh yes, the Red Sox were the clear leaders in the arms race. But suddenly here we are in August and things don’t look nearly as promising.

The trouble is that no one seems to want the number three job in the rotation.

Come on, it’s a great job. A tremendous opportunity. Remember back to 2004. Derek Lowe pitched in that spot in the post season and made himself millions.

Who doesn’t want that?

Well it appears no one on the Sox roster wants it. It was Daisuke’s. He blew it. Penny, Smoltz and the latest Buchholz. Many have been given chances and many have made little of them.

Post season success in my mind is simple with Martinez inserted into the middle of the lineup. A run producer which was needed badly is now there, but still someone needs to “step up” and give the Sox a number three pitcher.

It’s imperative. The season, the whole season depends on it.

Does Rose Deserve Call to the Hall of Fame?

Posted by Chris Collins July 28, 2009 at 9:45 am

He stained the game and believe me, Commissioner Bud Selig knows something about staining the game. The steroid era took off under Selig’s watch, or at least he was supposed to be watching, but Pete Rose is clearly a different situation.

It’s a tricky deal. On one hand, it’s hard to fathom the Hall of Fame without the games all-time hit leader in it. But on the other hand, how can you maintain the integrity of the sport if well, the all time hit king was betting on it? I’m not sure I’m buying the report that Selig is re-thinking this one. He has just been so adamant about keeping Rose out. Rose made a huge mistake and then he lied about it, but at what point do you say we must forgive and give the man his due for how he played the game? It’s not over, but I still think Rose is a long way from making it to Cooperstown.

Call to the Hall

Posted by Chris Collins July 24, 2009 at 9:16 am

I never thought it was right that Jim Rice wasn’t in Baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Growing up a Boston Red Sox fan, Rice was everything to me. Not only because he was one of the few people of color playing for the hometown team, but he was one of the most feared hitters of his time. When Rice was up, I was watching.

Before there was Big Papi knocking homers at Fenway Park, it was Jim Rice who put the fear of God into opposing pitchers. A Hall of Famer? Are you kidding me? What a dumb question.

So why 15 years after he first became eligible was Rice crossing his fingers, literally on his knees praying (he would never admit this if it were true) for entrance to a place where guys who aren’t worthy of carrying his baseball bag have had relatively easy roads?

One week after Rice finally got the call that had eluded him for 15 years, he was exhaling. After jetting around the country with fellow Hall of Fame rookie classmate Rickey Henderson, making a stop at theLetterman show, where he was very funny and noticeably more relaxed, it’s time for Rice to breathe again.

I’m too young to have covered Rice during his playing days, so I couldn’t comment on his “chilly” relationship with the media first hand, but I’ve gotten to know the big fella and I can say the first several times I met him he was not exactly Mr. Congeniality.

But over the years, I’ve gotten to know him because he exhales at the same place I do, Giblees Men’s Clothing Store. I thought my passion was clothes. Rice puts me to shame.

I have acquired a healthy respect for Rice now that I don’t think a lot of those old scribes, most of whom who covered and hated Rice, understood the guy.

You have to consider his upbringing. He was signed by the Sox as an 18-year-old kid. He was from a tough part of the country for blacks, Columbia, S.C. and was dumped into an even tougher part for people of color. Hell, even Ray Charles could see the chasm between Rice and the white guys who covered him.

To penalize him for those off-the-field issues would have been inexcusable.

A year ago, Rice failed to get the call to the hall by only 16 votes, when he earned 392 votes among the 543 ballots cast, 72.2 percent, which as it turned out was the highest percentage for any player not gaining election. And no player who had reached the 70-percent plateau had failed to be elected the following year.

Rice became the 21st player to follow that pattern, squeaking by with 76.4 percent of the vote, with only seven votes to spare. Yup. It was time to exhale.

I talked to Rice the day before and even though the numbers pretty much sealed the deal — he led all American Leaguers in homers and RBIs during his 16-year career — he figured it was a flip of the coin, which was crazy..

Rice spent his entire 16-year career in Boston. He was an eight-time All-Star. He had four seasons of more than 200 hits. He led the American League in home runs three times, RBIs twice, once in hits, twice in slugging percentage. He was MVP in 1978.

His career numbers were .298 batting average, 382 home runs, 2,452 hits and 1,451 RBIs.

Impressive stuff, but apparently not impressive enough for 14 years.

Twenty-four hours away from getting the phone call, he took nothing for granted. Hell, he wouldn’t admit to even worrying, but I knew better.

As a matter of fact, earlier in the month he had talked about playing golf on the big day. Come on, he could down play the day as much as he wanted to, but this day was being reserved for a ball with stitches not dimples.

At 1:17 p.m., EST, on Monday, Jan. 12th, Rice answered his phone. As he hung up the phone, with tears in his eyes, the 200-pound gorilla had leapt off.

Rice went on to say: “In a way it bothered me, but it’s one of those things you can’t control. When you talk about it, you would need to go back and talk to all the writers who voted and ask them why or why not this year. I’m not going to do that or look at the writers in that way. The only thing I know is that I got the call from the commissioner. And I didn’t get a call from the Red Sox saying they are sorry.”

Rice refused to be bitter on this sweet day. That impressed me the most. I don’t know if I could have been so understanding.

Now Rice fulfills a dream. He officially becomes part of the Left-field Legacy, being one of three Red Sox left-fielders whose busts are in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Finally, they got it right.

Wakefield to the DL

Posted by Chris Collins July 21, 2009 at 9:49 pm

The timing of this move is interesting.

I’m not sure just yet if I’m buying the Tim Wakefield back injury. As a matter of fact, I was skeptical when it kept him out of the 2007 playoff run.

But regardless, if Wake is hurt or not, the Sox are into the second half of the season and they find themselves no longer a lock to win the division, but really no longer a lock for the post season either.

Sure I still believe they will be there when the post season party starts in the fall, but this season is shaping up to be a tight fight all night to the finish.

So knowing that every game takes on even more importance, the luxury of being patient with pitchers or guys who may struggle in the line up just isn’t there anymore.

The Red Sox are in dire need of a number three pitcher and what we have seen so far, the man most suited for the job might be the guy who has been festering down on the farm for the entire season with the exception of one start.

Clay Buchholz has earned the opportunity to at the very least be given a shot to show he can be that guy.

So Buchholz goes tomorrow and after what he was able to do against Toronto, if he can come back tomorrow and go deep into the game and put up back to back quality outings, Clay’s days in Pawtucket are likely over.

Julio Lu-Gone?

Posted by Chris Collins July 17, 2009 at 8:51 am

I don’t have the bitterness towards Julio Lugo like so many others do. If someone came to you and offered you 36 million over four years you would take it too. But the deal with Lugo is this he was put in a situation where it was almost impossible for him to succeed. Like Gary Sheffield told a reporter who asked him why he was immediatly inserted into the four spot in the lineup after being out months with an injury, without hesitation, Sheffield told the reporter, “Have you seen my track record?”.

The same goes for Lugo. Have you seen his track record? Prior to arriving in Red Sox nation, Lugo’s track record defensively was sketchy at best. 26 errors, 24 errors and 19 the three previous seasons before he signed with Boston. What did the Tuna say? You are who you are. Well, hello that’s who he is. As good as Theo Epstein is at drafting and developing young talent, they are just as bad at finding high ticket free agents who perform up to the cash they are given. Julio is done here in Boston and ultimately he is to blame, but he is not the only one.

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