Cursed To First - Sox and Pats forever.

My favorite memory of Richard Seymour

December 2003:

Of all the images shown on the Jumbo-Tron yesterday--Bruschi on the prowl, men without shirts screaming into the snowstorm, various witty signs held by fans--the one that speaks to this controlled insanity the most was of the face of Richard Seymour.

Seymour was held out of the first quarter because he had arrived late at the stadium after attending his grandfather's funeral the night before. When he came in in the second, he was loaded for bear. And yet as a thumping hip-hop beat blared over the loudspeakers, Richard bobbed his head, smiled, and mumbled the words to himself, a relaxed and focused man in the insular world of his helmet. Later, he caught sight of the cameras on him and smiled out of the giant screen as the crowd drove itself into paroxysms of noise.

As the din swelled, Seymour flapped his arms in the internationally recognized sign for "Yell louder". The yell went off the charts and Seymour stood back and bathed in it, hands in a GQ-pose by his head, nodding and smiling. The crowd kicked it up yet another notch.

At the absolute crescendo, Seymour looked into our collective eyes and brought his right fist to his chest, once, twice, right between the 9 and the 3 on his jersey. Who knows if he was thinking of his grandfather, or the fans, or some combination of both, but it was an incredible lovefest just then between a superstar defenseman and tens of thousands of his closest friends.

Shortly after that, the flakes began blowing in. The Jacksonville Jaguars looked dazed, as if they were just waiting to wake up from the nightmare. The score piled up on them even as the drifts stacked up on the field and in the stands. The snow began flying in time to the stadium music, just as it had in the shutout the previous week against Miami. It was clear that the Jaguars were dead in the water by halfway through the fourth quarter. But the vast majority of the fans stayed, hollering, until the clock on the scoreboard read 00:00.

This morning, it was announced that Richard Seymour has been traded to the Oakland Raiders for a 2011 first-round draft pick. We know we're supposed to root for the laundry, and yet these days, when they come, still feel like a punch in the gut.

In better news...

Dave Roberts, originally uploaded by Craic Media.

I'm sure you've all heard this by now, but DAVE ROBERTS! is going to be a NESN analyst.

A BSMW commenter calling himself "Angry Old Bastard" raised a good point in calling for the Eck to be named Analyst for Life, but short of that happening, I see no reason not to give DAVE ROBERTS! a shot.

Base-stealing ability doesn't necessarily translate into broadcast-booth success (although it seems to have worked for Jerry Remy). But even if he's terrible, we get to see him again, talking about the Red Sox, for at least a few more nights.

Beckett suspended six games for being a loudmouth

Josh Beckett, originally uploaded by Jeff Valois.

Or that's what I'm choosing to believe, because if there's anything I really fault him for in that bench-clearing incident the other day in Anaheim, it's responding like Bobby Abreu had just insulted his ancestry after one of his blazing-fast pitches, you know, almost hit Abreu in the face. That behavior from ol' Joshie doesn't exactly help the case that it was accidental. And it also wasn't until Josh took what the league calls 'aggressive actions' that everybody came running out onto the field.

I'm choosing to focus on Beckett's attitude here, because it's more than a little bit irritating to picture Mike Scioscia spending the last several days whining to the league about Beckett throwing at Abreu on purpose, and at some point, somebody who wasn't even there deciding in retrospect that yeah, actually, that was the case.

That's dumb. It was either clearly intentional or it wasn't. And if it was that clearly intentional, Beckett should've been ejected shortly after it happened. He wasn't.

Also, somebody want to give me a motive for this supposedly intentional face-pitch? In the middle of the first freakin' inning with a runner already in scoring position? That just happened to coincide with an abysmally late time-out call from the umpire, right in the middle of his delivery?

The Curious Case of Julius Peppers

Julius Peppers, originally uploaded by noahwood.

Yes, baseball season, WBC, Youk and Pedroia BOTH HURT OMG OMG OMG etc. But but but...

MVN post - Julius Peppers: Will he or won't he?

Matt Cassel has left the building.

I understand it's baseball season. But there's still quite a bit of drama happening with our football team, over here.

If you're not a Pats fan, it's maybe the equivalent of trading Mike Lowell and Clay Buchholz to the Anaheim Angels for a draft pick. That's right. ONE. Second round! Draft pick.

Needless to say, there's a discussion going on.

On Vrabel

Vrabel, originally uploaded by dejr8nas.

So yeah. I'm responding to this about how you'd expect.

Josh Beckett on the offseason, Brad Penny, and his Mom

Dan Roche Interview With Josh Beckett
Uploaded by beisbolct

Yep. His Mom. In this nice interview with Dan Roche (whom Josh must like--he has no compunction about limiting his interviews during Spring Training), Josh mentions how his Mom gets angry at him when he 'acts out':

Roche: You must've been frustrated last season...how did you not show any emotion...?
Beckett: I dunno, I think emotions are not premeditated for me, you know, generally whenever I do the things that my Mom hates whenever I do, it's an emotional deal. It's not that you don't know what's going on but it's just like, it just pops out...it's a spur of the moment deal.

Beckett's as laid back and cool during this Q&A as you could possibly expect anyone to be, which further confirms my dad's analysis that it's not so much that he likes to drop f-bombs all the time as that he has a tendency not to be able to snap out of 'angry pitching mode' before his post-game pressers.

However, this interview also confirms my corollary to that theory, which is that he doesn't appear to be able to speak for very long without swearing just as a matter of habit--behold the half-mumbled "and shit like that" when he's describing aspects of his off-season workout routine. Even as he's saying it he seems to catch himself--hence the mumble--but there it is, anyway.

Which kind of sums him up in general, if you think about it.

Rocco's Modern Life

hi!, originally uploaded by Boston Wolverine.

Around here, we love nothing more than a nice, schmaltzy, schmoopy story about the hometown boy suiting up for the Olde Towne Team.

Well, Sox Nation, eat your heart out.

Rocco Baldelli, signed by the Sox to a very smart 1-year deal with an almost irresistible $500,000 base salary, is a lovely signing in many ways, not the least of which is the fact that Baldelli is from Woonsocket, RI, and thus is also almost certain to be embraced by Boston as he tries to come back from an illness that limited him last year. And who but a hometown underdog could take the sting out of un-retiring No. 5?

Personally, I've had my eye on Baldelli for years--he's been just one of Tampa Bay's enviable prospects, and I'll admit his New England origins have played a big part in my affection, as well as my desire to see him in red and white.

It's really almost a can't-lose deal, given the reported price tag. The risk is the mitochondrial disorder he was diagnosed with last year, which causes chronic fatigue and limited him to 90 games with the Rays in 2008. However, reports are that the disorder is responding well to treatment--if true, the Sox have scored themselves a coup in their fourth outfielder. If not...he'll be the fourth outfielder.

This has been something of a theme for the Red Sox in this relatively modest off-season. I've heard frustrated rumblings from some in RSN about their lack of MFY-like big splashes, but it's easy to forget that the team's problem last year wasn't necessarily their personnel, but their overall health. Boston doesn't need to make the kind of fundamental changes the Yankees do--they began the season after their second World Series having made remarkably few moves at all, clearly believing in ability of the roster they already had to remain competitive and possibly repeat. Even with the setbacks the Sox suffered throughout last year, they made it to Game 7 of the ALCS. What's to fix?

Instead, the Sox have made shrewd moves like this one, and the signing of Brad Penny, who like Baldelli was available at a discount given an off year last year, to shore up the roster against a potential return of the injury bug, or to offer alternatives where there are question marks about performance for an existing player (see also: Buchholz, Clay). Smart. Strategic. Creative. Frugal. I love it.

The one recent signing I'm skeptical about, however, is the hiring on of 20-year Atlanta Braves veteran John Smoltz, presumably to the bullpen, for $5.5 million with incentives that could total $10 million. While versatile as both a reliever and starter at different points in his career, Smoltz is 41 years old and coming back from an injury. Didn't we just finally relieve our payroll of a couple 41-year-old, recently-injured pitchers? Was the market for relievers really that dry?

There's also something distasteful to me about a player that's been an icon elsewhere disappointing his longtime home fans for a few more million dollars and a single year instead of going out on top (see also Favre, Brett). I don't like that the Sox are the enabler of that whole phenomenon here. And I will be wary about what Smoltz, who probably won't even start pitching till May or June, can realistically produce. On both sides, with that signing, I have to wonder why they bothered.

There goes the neighborhood.

(via)

As the entirety of the Western Hemisphere has pretty much already acknowledged, Mr. Penny here is now a Boston Red Sox. And guess who Mr. Penny was a teammate with as wee children on the Marlins back in the day, and was seen up to no good with at a recent All Star Game?

You don't say. (Image via Kristen)

The price ($5 million) was definitely right after an off season last year. According to mlb.com, "Penny slipped to 6-9 with a 6.27 ERA in 19 appearances in 2008. Because of shoulder issues, Penny pitched just four times after June 14." Hopefully the same team that's kept Blister Boy (mostly) off the DL in Boston can refurbish him. Speculation is that Masterson would stay in the bullpen with Penny as the No. 5.

Meanwhile, IBW just got a whole lot twangier.

Evil Empire backs up the Brinks truck, Teixeira to wear pinstripes

miss, originally uploaded by Boston Wolverine.

The Yankees dumped $180 million and eight years in Mark Teixeira's lap, and it was an offer he couldn't refuse.

I think it's safe to say the Yanks have reloaded this off-season. They signed C.C. Sabathia to a $161 million, seven-year contract; they signed A.J. Burnett to five years for $82.5 million. And now Teixeira, plus $5 million thrown at Chien-Ming Wang for good measure. Their luxury tax alone on this payroll is reported to be $29.6 million--and there's still the possibility they could sign Manny Ramirez.

As a Red Sox fan, at least objectively speaking, none of this is great news. We couldn't have expected the Yanks to take their miserable 2008 results lying down, of course, but to see them get an actual pair of relatively young starting pitchers--a pair of aces?--is enough to make me gulp. With the Juice Man gone, the Yankees are exponentially better at first, especially on defense, as they also have Nick Swisher to just sort of kick around as a utility player. I also don't want to think about that lineup. A Yanks-fan friend who called me to gloat actually got me started in a discussion about where you'd hit Teixeira, behind or in front of A-Rod, before I finally caught myself and said, "Wait, why the fuck am I even talking about this with you?"

But yeah.

Actually, of all of them, AJ Burnett is the one who scares me the most, based on how he's matched up with the Red Sox in the past. Invoking the usual 'as long as he stays healthy' disclaimer, Burnett has been difficult if not impossible to solve for the Sox when I've seen him face them. Meanwhile, the Sox solved C.C. Sabathia twice back to back in the ALCS in the year he won the Cy Young--that had to have been his best shot, and so I at least feel like it's a fair fight there. And they also beat Teixeira and the formidable Vladimir Guerrerro with the Angels. Burnett, on the other hand...? I'd rather face Roy Halladay than Burnett. Then again, there is that chance he could end up, as the same Yanks fan referenced above put it, "being Jaret Pavano."

Another couple of silver linings for Sox fans: with this kind of payroll, the old "Yankees and Red Sox are the same now" chestnut might have some of its thunder stolen. But the biggest one of all is that the Yankees have once again thrown a ton of money at the problem through some probably unwisely long contracts to procure free agents--the same pattern that put them in this mess in the first place. Recall it was not their more high-priced assemblages of de facto All-Stars that has won the most rings most recently--the sainted Derek Jeter, still the face of the Yankees franchise, is a homegrown kid. As was Pettitte. Mariano Rivera also made his debut with the Yankees (as a non-drafted free agent), as did Jorge Posada.

Meanwhile, we've seen a few Great Hopes signed as free agents to restore glory to the pinstripes this decade. A-Rod himself, by the free-agent instant-improvement logic, should've been more than enough to lead them to the promised land. Randy Johnson, remember him? And who could forget the return of Pettitte and Clemens?

I know there will be some who call this sour grapes, but really. Call me when the Yankees produce a Dustin Pedroia or an Evan Longoria (and please don't give me any of that crap about Joba equalling Josh Beckett). That's when I'll really be shaking in my boots.