Hall of Fame

I kept a cool head last year when no players were elected to Cooperstown, but as my post so nicely explained, there were multiple candidates worthy of enshrinement. And I define worthy as in even while they were still playing, people referred to them as future Hall of Famers. There's no debate here.

Except that in the world of PEDs, apparently that's the only thing taken into consideration. Nevermind that only five players (Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, Sosa and Palmeiro) out of everyone on the ballot this year, had ever been connected to steroids, HGH, the cream, the clear, Balco, Biogenesis or any of the B.S. that we hear about seemingly all the time. The BBWAA's stance seems to be, "if you were playing anytime between the mid-90s to mid-00s you are guilty by association."

Yes, three worthy players were elected this year: Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas. But they were all new to the ballot. So, once again, every player I listed last year has to be carried over again to next year. It's not that they aren't Hall of Fame material, it's that the voting is a mess. You may have heard that Craig Biggio missed the cut by two votes. Two! The main culprit (other than the occasional idiot voter) is the incomprehensible rule that voters can only select 10 players on any given ballot. Well, because no one was elected last year, we now have a bottleneck of layovers plus the annual new additions, meaning there are more than 10 worthy players. This leaves some guys like Biggio to jussstttttt get squeezed out.

If you think next year will give the voters a chance to catch up, you're wrong. Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, Gary Sheffield, Carlos Delgado and Nomar Garciaparra will all be added to the ballot. The first 3 are more-or-less definite which puts us in a similar place as this year. Will Biggio be pushed over the hump, now that everyone is aware of his proximity? All I know is, judging by the last 2 years of selections, there will likely be a lot of negative critics.

MLB Hot Stove

I was reflecting on the recent free agent contracts doled out to Jacoby Ellsbury (7/153m) and Robinson Cano (10/240m) and couldn't help but think of all the long-term deals that never paid off for the winning bidder. Part of the issue is age. Most players are right around 30 when they get their first taste of free agency. They've already peaked as players and teams are paying for those prime years that are now in the rearview.

More recently, however, teams have started locking up their own star players earlier so they never even reach free agency. Just look at the long-term contract extensions signed by Elvis Andrus (24 when signed), Buster Posey (26) and Joey Votto (28) in the past 2 years.

I tried to put together a list of the absolute best, no dispute, greatest long-term (7+ years) contracts of all time:

A-Rod, 2001 (10/252m)
Derek Jeter, 2001 (10/189m)
Manny Ramirez, 2001 (8/160m)
Miguel Cabrera, 2008 (8/152m)
Albert Pujols, 2004 (7/100m)

Huh, only 5? At least 2001 was a pretty good year for long-term deals. How about the rest of the bunch?

A-Rod, 2008 (10/275m)
Albert Pujols, 2012 (10/240m)
Joey Votto, 2012 (10/225m)
Prince Fielder, 2012 (9/214m)
Joe Mauer, 2010 (8/184m)
Mark Teixeira, 2009 (8/180m)
Justin Verlander, 2013 (7/180m)
Felix Hernandez, 2013 (7/175m)
Buster Posey, 2013 (8/167m) 
CC Sabathia, 2009 (7/161m)
Matt Kemp, 2012 (8/160m)
Adrian Gonzalez, 2011 (7/154m)
Carl Crawford, 2011 (7/142m)
Todd Helton, 2003 (9/141m)
David Wright, 2013 (8/138m)
Alfonso Soriano, 2007 (8/136m)
Vernon Wells, 2008 (7/126m)
Barry Zito, 2007 (7/126m)
Jayson Werth, 2011 (7/126m)
Mike Hampton, 2001 (8/121m)
Elvis Andrus, 2013 (8/120m)
Jason Giambi, 2002 (7/120m)
Matt Holliday, 2010 (7/120m)
Carlos Beltran, 2005 (7/119m)
Ken Griffey, Jr., 2000 (9/116m)
Dustin Pedroia, 2013 (8/110m)
Kevin Brown, 1999 (7/105m)
Scott Rolen, 2003 (8/90m)
Chase Utley, 2007 (7/85m)
Ryan Braun, 2008 (8/45m)

Wow, 30 vs 5. Of course, it's not fair to comment on some of the recently signed deals, but just look at the number of the stinkers on that list. Crawford, Wells, Zito, Hampton and Brown are all infamous for their albatross contracts. And some of the others (Griffey, Rolen, Werth, A-Rod #2) just never had a chance.

So I guess what I'm saying is, good luck to Seattle for Cano to work out and to the Yankees, as always, go fuck yourselves.

Book Review: FRANCONA: The Red Sox Years

Perfectly timed with the release of the Cleveland Indians' Harlem Shake video yesterday, I finished reading Terry Francona's book about that other team he managed. After 8 years and 2 World Championships, Francona's Red Sox tenure ended in historically bad fashion during September 2011. But let's start with the good stuff.

I really enjoyed this book and it took me back to a time when our owners seemed great, our manager had control of the team and our GM was a wunderkind. Francona's father was a professional MLB-er and he grew up around the game. He also ended up playing professionally and had a 10 year career. Soon after retiring he got into coaching and quickly moved up the ranks. In 2004, he was hired by the Sox to take over for Grady "I think Pedro can give me one more" Little. You know how that season ended.

Fast forward through some more highs (2007 Champs) and we end on the lowest note possible. I didn't enjoy reading the last three chapters because our team is still in the midst of recovering from that mess. It hit a little too close to home. And anyone who read the book excerpts that were released ahead of time know all the salient quotes from this section. The real reason to dig into this book is to remember the good times; how they built something from nothing. It was an insightful walk down memory lane... I can't wait to go back.

Hall of Fame

I'm not here to complain that nobody got into Cooperstown this year. I'm not here to rant about steroids or PEDs and players paying the price for their sins. I'm here to talk about who should be in the Hall of Fame. I have read too many articles the past two days going over the same topics so let's just cut to the chase of players who I think are worthy.

I'll start with the players who were on the ballot for the first time:

Barry Bonds - MLB's all time HR leader... he's IN
Roger Clemens - 7 Cy Young awards... he's IN
Mike Piazza - the greatest hitting catcher of all time... he's IN
Craig Biggio - 3000 hits, knew how to take a HBP, played 3 different positions... he's IN
Curt Schilling - Bloody Sock. That's all that needs to be said... he's IN
Sammy Sosa - 600 HRs, threw his back out sneezing... he's OUT

Now, the layovers:

Dale Murphy - final year on ballot: great for a period of time but faded too fast... he's OUT (and he is actually out)
Jack Morris - next year is final year on ballot: 3.90 ERA. Nothing else can sway me... he's OUT
Jeff Bagwell - one of the top 1B of his generation... he's IN
Tim Raines - second greatest leadoff hitter ever... he's IN
Lee Smith - has a bunch of saves but was never dominant... he's OUT
Edgar Martinez - the greatest DH ever... he's IN
Alan Trammel - sabermetrics work in his favor... he's IN
Larry Walker - if he hadn't played in Colorado he'd have a chance... he's OUT
Fred McGriff - Hall of Very Good maybe... he's OUT
Mark McGwire - better than Sosa but he also didn't do anything but hit homers... he's OUT
Don Mattingly - boring production. There's a place for that but not the HOF... he's OUT
Rafael Palmeiro - merit alone I think he's done enough... he's IN

So that's my HOF ballot. I already know which ones I like that probably have no shot of making it but here's to hoping.

Book Review: Red Sox Triviology: Fascinating Facts from the Bleacher Seats

by: Neil Shalin

With a great byline like that, how could you go wrong? I'll tell you how:

Adrian Gonzalez - ranked 6th best first baseman in Red Sox history
Adrian Beltre - ranked 10th best third baseman in Red Sox history
Carl Crawford - ranked 7th best left fielder in Red Sox history

Are you kidding me? Beltre was only in Boston 1 year. Gonzalez had only been here 1 year (the book was published in October 2011) and is now gone. Carl Crawford put up the worst stats of his career (batted .255/.289 with only 18 steals) in his 1 full season with the Sox. How do you rank these guys that high on the All-Time Red Sox List?

Take a good, hard look at the cover of this book. If you see it just turn and walk away.

Welcome back, John Farrell

Sox fans have loved John Farrell ever since he first arrived in November 2006. He immediately turned around Josh Beckett (5.01 ERA in '06, 3.27 ERA in '07), helped Jon Lester successfully return from cancer treatment and incorporated new Japanese import Daisuke Matsuzaka (15 wins in his first season in MLB). Oh yeah, and they won the World Series that year with all four starting pitchers winning their games. He could do no wrong.

In October 2010, we were all sad to see him head north to Toronto but could only wish him well. The opportunity to manage his own team was a great opportunity; something he wouldn't get in Boston with the immortal Terry Francona. Of course, September 2011 happened and people started clamoring to bring Farrell back. Toronto would have none of it though so the Bobby Valentine Era happened. Fast forward one year and we finally got our man.

I think this is a great move. It's more than just trying to relive the glory days by bringing back one of the main components but it's bringing in a guy with a lot of skill and knowledge. He knows this team. He is the definition of hitting the ground running. I have complete confidence in John Farrell and in spite of the past two years I am actually looking forward to this coming season.

A tale of two teams

Without Brig around to make this a fun weekend I ended up spending a lot of time immersed in baseball. I watched 3 Sox games in a row for the first time in probably 2 years and did a lot of tinkering to my 3 fantasy baseball squads. One of them had their trade deadline set for this weekend. Here is it's tale: 

It’s amazing what high expectations and a down year can do to a player’s reputation. With Albert Pujols joining the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (real name) this offseason, fantasy baseball players were salivating over the possibilities for second baseman Howie Kendrick. Batting ahead of Pujols meant he would get better pitches to hit and he’d have more opportunities to score runs. You know what they say about the best laid plans... Pujols struggled in his new locale and so did Kendrick. He was seeing more fastballs but not making contact. His average went down and then so did his spot in the lineup. 

I just traded for Kendrick in my dynasty league. He’s only 29 and normally a .285/10 HR/10 SB hitter. That plays in any league. But here’s the crazy part… how little I paid to get him: a reliever (Vicente Padilla) and an injury-risk starter (Zach Britton). 

That’s a testament to just how far Kendrick’s stock has fallen. At the beginning of the year he was ranked higher than Neil Walker, Dustin Ackley, Jose Altuve and Aaron Hill. Yet, I got him from a manager who has Hill and Ackley (and who previously had Altuve too before trading him) and I got him with the intention of being a backup on my team to Walker. So, clearly, his perceived value has never been lower while his actual value is likely just taking a temporary hit. Sometimes, players have down seasons for absolutely no reason. I’m taking a chance (albeit not much of one given how little I gave up in the trade) that he will rebound next year and continue putting up numbers close to his career averages. And even if he doesn’t, I’m not relying on him to be a starter or anything other than a replacement player if someone gets hurt or is slumping. It’s a no-lose situation. 

Earlier in the year, I turned Sergio Romo (another reliever who isn't his team's closer) into Ivan Nova (just win, baby!) as well as trading one year wonder(?) Fernando Rodney for much needed right-field help in the form of Corey Hart. The common denominator between all these trades? I moved relievers. 

This would be nearly impossible in any league that didn’t count Holds as a category. Rodney is a save-machine this year so he has value anywhere but Romo and Padilla? Not necessarily. Romo is actually a very good pitcher but he’s had arm issues so San Fran is treating him with kid gloves. Smart in real life maybe but under-utilizing a proven talent in fantasy is a waste. And Padilla has looked really good this year but he’s in the twilight of his career and will be a free agent after the season meaning who knows what his situation will be next year. The key point here is to not pay for relievers. There is too much turnover from year-to-year. There’s only 1 Mariano Rivera (and even this year he screwed over fantasy owners).

It's Fenway's 100th Opening Day!

Probably the second best well known baseball poem (after Casey at the Bat):

Baseball's Sad Lexicon
by: Franklin Pierce Adams

These are the saddest of possible words:
"Tinker to Evers to Chance."
Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds,
Tinker and Evers and Chance.
Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble,
Making a Giant hit into a double--
Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble:
"Tinker to Evers to Chance."


I got to see the plaques of all three of those players in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Uh-oh and 1

I remember seeing that headline in the newspaper once when I was in high school. It was funny because that’s how Red Sox fans felt before the life changing 2004 season. Even after the first game of the year we were already expecting the worst, “Uh-oh, we’re 0-1.” It was the year the Sox had decided to go with the dreaded “closer by committee.” I think it was 2003 but don’t quote me on it.* Yesterday, the comparisons to that year and that headline were obvious.

With our longtime closer Jonathan Papelbon leaving for Philadelphia (without Sox ownership even making him an offer), ace setup man Daniel Bard being moved to the starting rotation and new closer Andrew Bailey out for 3-4 months before pitching in a single regular season game, our bullpen was already in upheaval. Still, with former Astros closer Mark Melancon on the roster as well as lifetime 24-3 record holder Alfredo Aceves, it wasn’t entirely in disarray. That is until the games started.

Yesterday was a battle of two aces: Jon Lester versus last year’s AL MVP & Cy Young Award winner, Justin Verlander. The Sox were down 2-0 heading into the top of the 9th but with Verlander finally out and the Tigers’ closer on the mound they were able to push across two runs to tie the game. Then came trouble. Manager Bobby Valentine sent out Melancon to start the bottom of the 9th. He gave up two hits while only getting one out and Valentine quickly pulled the plug and called in Aceves. He promptly hit his first batter with a pitch and then allowed the game winning single. Boo.

I have two things to say about this. First, this has nothing to do with not having Papelbon or Bailey. As closers, managers tend to save them until their team has a lead. In a tie game, it would be up to the setup guys. Which is why the problem really lies with Daniel Bard. If he hadn’t been moved into the starting rotation, even though he hasn’t started a game since 2007, he would have (likely) come in and held onto the tie. Instead we got the L.

Maybe this is a one-time thing. Melancon and Aceves are still getting into regular season mode and a little early rust can be expected (Remember, the Tigers closer gave up 2 runs to allow them to tie it up). Or maybe this is foreshadowing the rest of our season. Maybe no lead will be safe with our bullpen butchering things. There was already a rumor floating last night that the Sox were looking at Kevin Gregg of the Orioles to trade for and shore up the bullpen. Whether that’s true or not is another story but it shows that even GM Ben Cherington thinks this is a bigger issue than just one game. It’s a cause for concern. Uh-oh and 1.


*Now you can quote me.

Book Review: Shoeless Joe

by: W.P. Kinsella

If I hadn’t seen Field of Dreams I probably would not have been able to get into this book. It is so fantastical and it seems to come out of nowhere. Ray and his family are normal Iowa farmers trying to get by and then all this supernatural stuff starts happening. I like how Wikipedia describes it as a “magic realist” novel because that’s exactly what it is and why it seems so off-putting at first. You’re expecting ‘real’ and then you get blindsided by ‘magic’.

I also think it helped that I had seen the movie because I could picture the story more easily in my mind. I know people love books because the reader can imagine whatever they want but I liked being transported to the scenes of a movie that I really enjoy. Plus, Kinsella is very wordy in his visual descriptions and it can feel tedious at times. Instead, I could imagine their lines of dialogue and pick out which ones came directly from the book.

My recommendation is to stick with Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones for a more enjoyable experience.

Mound Pounders

This is for you. No, no, it’s not something you actually care about. I just feel bad that January became a book/movie review-fest and not much else. So here’s something different that still won’t interest you.

I am in a dynasty fantasy baseball league with some of my friends. There are 20 teams and each team has 25 active roster spots and 5 DL spots for injured players. We also have 5 minor league slots and a separate minor league draft but I won’t bore you with that. If you don’t know, a dynasty league is different from a normal fantasy baseball league because we keep the same players year after year. We draft one time and our teams carry over. It’s like the real life Red Sox. Ben Cherington became the GM this year and he has the players he has. He’ll make some trades or signings but next year he’ll have those same players. Dynasty is based off the same principle.

We started in 2010 and I had the ninth pick in the draft. I wanted to go pitching first because I always end up waiting and piecing together my staff. I did not want that to happen in the dynasty league. I took 2x Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum. Only one other pitcher went in the first round (Felix Hernandez). In the second round I went to a scarce position (2B) and picked the best player, Robinson Cano. I had a choice between Cano and Pedroia which was tough because I love Pedey in real life but in fantasy Cano is the (slightly) better option. In the third round I got nervous about the lack of quality 1B left so I grabbed Billy Butler. He doesn’t have much power but he is an asset in a league that counts OBP (On-Base Percentage) like this one. Moving along the diamond I wanted to take a 3B in the next round. I was iffy on Gordon Beckham or Ian Stewart. I went with Beckham, only to find out that the White Sox were moving him to 2B. Complete waste of a pick (although it would later pay off in a trade). Luckily, Stewart made it back to me (I had to sweat through 20 picks by other people) and I grabbed him with my next pick. In the 6th round I wanted to get a SS and I chose Ian Desmond over Erick Aybar. I still regret this choice. At the time, I thought Aybar had peaked the year earlier and I heard reports stating that Desmond could be a 20/20 guy. He got the 20 steals last year but I’m still waiting for some pop in his bat. At this point in the draft I have no outfielders so I added the power hitting Jason Kubel. I had owned him before and considered him a pretty consistent 25 homers. In round 8 I reached for another outfielder, Michael Brantley. In the draft guide I was using it didn’t rank players dynasty-style (valuing youth and potential) so I wasn’t sure where to take him. I feel this was a little early. In the ninth round I couldn’t believe that David Price (former #1 overall draft pick) was still available. I grabbed him and didn’t think twice. Round 10 I went back to the young outfielders with Travis Snider. Round 11 was another young, Tampa Bay pitcher, Wade Davis. His strikeout numbers have yet to follow him to my team. Cameron Maybin was next… a former prospect whose shine had come off a bit. I picked J.A. Happ next because he was a former rookie of the year and had looked good in his short career. Back to the OF for Gerardo Parra, who hasn’t bloomed yet although he’s shown ability. He’s a player I see now on the waiver wire and always want to give another shot. I finally gave in and selected a closer in round 15 – the Cardinals’ Ryan Franklin. I never like to overrate saves. At this point I have a starter at every position except Catcher. Come on down, Carlos Ruiz! I like him because he’s in the stacked Phillies lineup. Next I choose a reliever JP Howell. An interesting choice because he is not a closer, but he is young and has high strikeout totals. Unfortunately, he’s been hurt and hasn’t amounted to much. I wanted some consistency on my pitching staff so I drafted Nick Blackburn. For 3 straight years he had 10-11 wins with an ERA in the low 4.’s. Round 19 I selected OF Marlon Byrd. Marc Rzepczynski is the pitcher I took with my 20th pick. Round 21 I went with another young pitcher, Wade LeBlanc. He pitches in San Diego which is one of the best pitchers’ parks in the league. I chose another non-closing reliever, Mark Lowe with pick 22. Next up was infield prospect Jason Donald. He was one of the prospects the Phillies sent to the Indians in the Cliff Lee trade. In round 24 I selected Cuban defector Dayan Viciedo who was quite green but a definite source of homers. The final round was upon me and, after choosing prospects with my last 2 picks, I selected an unsexy, unexciting, uninspiring player named Casey Kotchman. Ladies and gentlemen, your inaugural Mound Pounders.

My very first move after the draft – which will go down in history – was picking up Jose Bautista off the waiver wire. He went on to have a breakout season and became a superstar for the Blue Jays. My other big move was trading Gordon Beckham (who was stuck on my bench) for Ricky Romero, an up and coming pitcher whom I was a big fan of. Here is how my team looked at the end of that first season:

C: Ruiz, Ryan Hanigan
1B: Butler
2B: Cano, Donald
SS: Desmond, Yuniesky Betancourt
3B: Bautista, Stewart
OF: Kubel, Brantley, Maybin, Snider, Byrd, Andres Torres
SP: Lincecum, Price, Romero, Davis, Happ, Blackburn, LeBlanc, Brian Duensing
RP: Franklin, Joaquin Benoit, Jason Motte (26)

As you can see I ended the season over the allowable 25 players. Since we have those 5 DL spots, we can “stash” additional injured players at the end of the season. We can hold onto them until February when we have to officially get down to 25. This is a good strategy to buy yourself a few extra months to see who is recovering well and allows a more informed decision in February rather than having to in September.

During the season I obviously made many transactions. I wanted to add a backup catcher and ended up with Hanigan. The same can be said for SS where I grabbed Betancourt. Andres Torres was a great pickup for me because he helped a lot in the steals category. And as you can see, I picked up two other relievers to go along with my draftee, Franklin. Always be reactive and not proactive with relief pitchers.

Year 2 of the dynasty league was very exciting. I was able to pick up some veteran difference makers to help my team now. My goal in last year’s draft was to find young talent with high upside. I want to be good for a long time. Of course working within that strategy usually implies that you’re ignoring the present and waiting for the prospects to blossom. This year I was able to get solid HR contributors like Derrek Lee and Garrett Jones to help my offense, as well as Paul Maholm to boost my starting pitching.

As I already mentioned, I’m not one to overrate saves. The flip side is you never want to ignore them either. My relief corps is 100% changed from last year. In hindsight, dropping Jason Motte was a bad move but he didn’t win the closer role until August – many months after I dropped him. But I was able to pick up Sergio Santos and Javy Guerra who both came out of the woodwork to lead their respective teams in saves. If you play it like I do then you really need to keep a hawkeye on the waiver wire.

I got a stay of execution this year when Jose Bautista managed to reclaim his 3B eligibility. He plays RF now but due to an injury he got enough time at 3B for me to be allowed to play him in that spot. My problem was that Ian Stewart was the only other 3B on my roster and he had the worst year of his career this year. So bad, in fact, that he was traded in the offseason. Knowing this was a weakness on my roster I picked up a couple kids before the season ended to see if they might stick. Brent Morel is probably the best bet to be my 3B of the future. Kyle Seager gained SS eligibility at the end of the season too so I can use him to back up Ian Desmond, which was another glaring hole on my roster. But because of my late season moves it allowed me the opportunity to try and trade the disappointing Ian Stewart. The thing is he had a great season a couple years ago with 25 home runs. Now he’s getting a fresh start with another team so I knew someone would be willing to take a chance. And when approached, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to trade for my old draft pick, Dayan Viciedo. I dropped him early in 2010 because he was still a couple years away from the pros and I didn’t have the roster flexibility to keep him on my bench. But in this past year he has blossomed and looks to be a star in the making. I’ll take the future star over the reclamation project every day of the week. Of course, my trade partner took note of this and also requested Wade Davis for Carl Pavano. Davis is young and Pavano is quite old but I’m not a huge fan of Davis. He’s never put up big strikeout numbers and if he didn’t play for Tampa Bay then he’d just be average. So while Pavano is still a bit of a downgrade, the swap of Stewart for Viciedo more than makes up for it.

C: Ruiz, Nick Hundley
1B: Butler, Lee, Jones
2B: Cano
SS: Desmond
3B: Bautista, Morel, Seager
OF: Kubel, Brantley, Maybin, Snider, Byrd, Viciedo, Chris Carter
SP: Lincecum, Price, Romero, Happ, Blackburn, Maholm, Pavano, Kevin Correia, Jon Garland
RP: Santos, Guerra, Greg Holland, Felix Doubront (30)

*2010 – finished 17th
*2011 – finished 11th
*2012 - ???

Book Review: Knuckler: My Life with Baseball’s Most Confounding Pitch

by: Tim Wakefield (w/ Tony Massarotti)

If I only make one point in this blog post it’s that I don’t like being lied to. The author is listed as Tim Wakefield. The subtitle is “My Life with Baseball’s Most Confounding Pitch.” So imagine my surprise to find that this book is written entirely in the third person. Hell, Wakefield is quoted in his own book. The author wouldn’t need to quote himself because he is the one saying it! What a crock.

As a biography, this book is fine. It focuses on the amazing career of Wakefield while also delving into previous Red Sox seasons. I liked that Massarotti didn’t ignore what else was going on at the time around Wakefield. That is as important to his story as anything.

Nothing made me laugh harder than this line right here. I forgot how exciting it seemed at the time but just how terrible it all was in hindsight. Good thing Theo Epstein drafted well:

"Fortified during an off-season in which club ownership and management committed in excess of $200 million to long-term contracts for outfielder J.D. Drew, shortstop Julio Lugo, and Japanese pitching import Daisuke Matsuzaka."

For the love of Pete Pedro Pierre ...

If you haven’t heard, Cleveland Indians pitcher Fausto Carmona is being held in his home country of the Dominican Republic for falsifying information. What information? His name (Roberto Hernandez Heredia) and his age (31, not 28 as he has stated). What is even crazier is that Carmona Heredia isn’t even the first MLB pitcher to get caught this offseason.

The man formerly known as Leo Nunez pitched for the Marlins this past season before getting held up in the DR and charged with falsifying information. His real name? Juan Carlos Oviedo. Age? 29, not 28 as he has claimed.

Two players with Hall of Fame credentials, Vladimir Guerrero and Miguel Tejada, were both busted within the past 5 years of lying about their age. Tejada claimed to be 2 years younger than he was and Guerrero said he was 1 year younger than actuality. It’s crazy to consider just how many other players may be disguising themselves as well.

I understand that there simply aren’t the same opportunities in the DR and Cuba for talented athletes. But to lie to this extent? Thinking no one will ever find out? That’s just ignorance. If you can play, you can play. And believe me, teams will pay.

Bobby Valentine, Manager of the Red Sox

As if you need to read one more person's opinion about this guy. In short, I think he's the right hire for this team at this time. Who knows what the situation will be in 2-3 years but right now we need a presence like Bobby V's.

He's no nameless guy. He's no player's manager. He is his own man and he is a bigger "celebrity" than most MLB players. No one will walk over him and he'll happily call out anyone -- regardless of status or salary -- who gets out of line. And that, my friends, is what this team needs most. Order. Direction. Someone to draw a hard line and dare anyone to cross it.

There will be no more Wakefield quests for 200 wins; no more Big Papi interrupting press conferences; no more chicken & beer in the clubhouse. All the detestable, egotistical things our hometown boys did this year will end today. And for that we must be thankful. Because the only thing worse than rooting for a bunch of rich ballplayers is rooting for a bunch of lazy, selfish, rich ballplayers.

The End of an Era

The 2011 Red Sox season is over and so is the franchise’s renaissance of the past 7 years.

2004 changed everything. 2007 emphasized that fact. But 2011 has brought us back to the world of the cursed. The 2003s, 1986s and 1978s that we all believed were behind us have returned.

Of course we were confident. Money and championships will do that to you. But, once again, we learned that money doesn’t equal championships. Best Team Ever? 100 wins? Try worst collapse in baseball history. No team has ever had a 9 game lead in September and not made the playoffs. Until now.

Maybe this is what needed to happen. To start over. To hit refresh. This will clear out all the pink hats. This will clear out all the Fenway Commemorative Bricks. We needed to get back to basics. We needed to get back to baseball. Hey Theo, batter up.

Going, going, g---

With only 3 games left to the season the Red Sox are somehow still leading the race for the AL Wild Card by 1 game. However, I am currently watching Josh Beckett load the bases in the 5th, while refreshing the score of the Rays/Yankees game and seeing Tampa Bay up by 2. The month of September has really done a number on everyone involved. Suddenly, Terry Francona is on the hot seat; Theo Epstein is no longer the boy genius; Adrian Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia & Jacoby Ellsbury have stopped garnering heavy MVP consideration; and Boston fans are being mocked in the media. Bill Plaschke of the LA Times wrote a great piece on how the rest of the country is viewing this epic collapse.

I'm with Curt Schilling on this one. I don't want to see the Sox in the playoffs. Why extend this doomed season any longer? Finish with an embarrassing flourish of ineptitude and make some wholesale changes in the offseason.