New York Yankees

year the season began on Easter Sunday with a match-up between the defending World Series champion New York Yankees and their arch rival the Boston Red Sox.  This is, hands down, the best rivalry in sports.  The series didn't go the way I wanted it to, but we did get our first win against the Yankees under our belt and the games were well played for the most part.  Hey, when you think about it last year the Sox won the first 8 games against the Yankees only to lose 9 out of the next 10 so maybe losing 2 out of the first 3 ain't bad.

Continue reading "Sox Begin 2010"

There’s been a lot of griping recently over the state of Boston sports, serving (for me) as another ugly reminder of the developing, spoiled and cocksure nature of fans in this area. Let’s take a quick look, shall we?

Continue reading "A Message to Boston Sports Fans"

 Last Night B. Penny and the Sox came out on a mission and that was to break this losing streak and they did. But I personally was more concerned about our hitting. After getting swept by the Yankees in a 4 game series which has not happened in over 20 years, I wasn't concerned about our pitching (except Smoltz which the Sox dealt with after that 1st game massacre and giving up 9 earned, they put him on assignment) I was worried about our line-up.

Continue reading "Red Sox Get Much Needed Win and End ..."

MLB Boston Red Sox; Beckett goes for his 12th win, close but no Support!!
The Red Sox had lost 3 in a row and went into this game versus the Texas Rangers with their ace Josh Beckett on the mound

Continue reading "Red Sox Fall Out of First Place"

Clay Buchholz Would get his First Start of the Year- and it would be a good one.

 This being the first game since returning from the all-star break the Sox looked to stay in command in the East.  Not knowing if Beckett and Wake would pitch in the all-star game(which they didn't and I personally thought they really should have got Wake in the game)so they made this move. The Sox brought up Clay Buchholz (7-2 in minors this year) for this one start knowing no matter how good he did, he would be sent back to the minors after the game. This did not matter to Clay Buchholz, he came out gunning, he threw 103 pitches, only allowed 4 hits and 1 earned run and had 3 strikeouts--Nasty!!  He went into the 6th and was relieved by Bard who ended the inning and looked great also. Makes you think should we keep Clay up here and sit Smoltz, what does Sox Nation think??? Log in and let me know!!!

Continue reading "Buchholz Gets First Win"

These days, going to a baseball game isn't what it used to be. Seldom will a pitcher throw into the 7th inning; the score is usually 7-6 or 10-9; and your favorite slugger is likely to hit one, if not two balls, out of the park. The game is shamelessly jacked up on HGH, and its obvious. The best hitter (Bonds) and pitcher (Clemens) of our generation used it, and more players are getting busted by the day (A-Rod, Manny). However, most fans don't care. They still go to the ballpark. That's because baseball, and pro sports in general, is merely another form of entertainment.

Continue reading "Rampant Steroid Use Brings Up Issue ..."

At this point, Alex Rodriguez could be accused of drowing puppies in a bucket of children's tears, and it would barely register on my radar screen.

Nothing I hear about this guy can shock me.

Since it came to light in February that A-Rod used performance enhancing drugs from 2001 to 2003, he has been made a pariah, representing everything that is wrong with professional baseball. He was supposed to be baseball's last remaining light, the golden boy who was supposed to break Barry Bonds' home run record without the help of a single supplement. Many considered the steroid era in baseball to be over - all the heavy hitters had been chased from the game, and there was a new policy in place to punish those who did test positive. The new era of hitters (Pujols, Howard, Ortiz, Texiera) were doing it without steroids, and A-Rod was supposed to be the poster child.

Continue reading "The continuing s*** show that has ..."

The American sports landscape has been continually tattooed with dynastic labels like “Team of the Year” or “Team of the Decade.”  The NFL in particular has been defined each decade by a juggernaut winning …. a lot.  The dominance of franchises like the 70’s Steelers, the 80’s Niners, the 90’s Cowboys, and the Patriots of the new millennium has immortalized the likes of Bradshaw, Aikman and Montana to deific status.  The NBA has also provided its share of dynastic runs from the Celtics to the Lakers to the Pistons to the Bulls, and examples abound exist in both hockey and baseball as well. 

Continue reading "Bruins Cup could give Boston Most ..."

Alex "A-Roid" Rodriguez has to be one of the dumbest athletes in modern sports. He's getting paid $33 million per year, as part of a 52-year contract, so he's set for life. Yet he resorts to using steroids. Why? He clearly has it all. He's already on pace to break Bonds' home-run "record." Besides that, he's known as the best offensive hitter in the game, when healthy. The staff and myself racked our brains over why the slugger feels he needed the extra edge. Having been stumped, we came up with 10 reasons why he doesn't need steroids, in hopes of convincing the vain ballplayer to lay off the juice.

Continue reading "Top 10 Reasons why Alex "A-Roid" ..."

As I watched Jacoby Ellsbury steal home against the Yankees Sunday night, I thought to myself: "This pretty much sums it up." An aging Andy Pettitte forgets to deliver from the stretch, letting a youthful Ellsbury elude another future Bingo regular, Jorge Posada's, tag at the plate. Would Justin Masterson have made the same error? The two ballclubs could not be headed in more opposite directions. Every year, the Red Sox seem to call up another hyped prospect, while the Yanks continue to overpay for limited talent, and shun their farm system.

Continue reading "Red Sox continue to steal away Yanks' future"

AL Wild Card: New York Yankees; AL Champion: Boston Red Sox

2. In the National League, the wildcard situation is a bit more complicated – I’ve been spending the last week and a half avoiding this decision. Presuming New York, Chicago and Los Angeles finish atop their divisions, Arizona, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Philadelphia (not in that order) are the serious contenders for that coveted fourth postseason spot. I realize I also listed four teams as potential wildcard winners in the AL, but I don’t think anyone will truly give the Yankees a race and they’ll take the wildcard by eight or more games. The Reds because of their pitching, and the Cardinals because of Albert Pujols and the possible resurgence of Chris Carpenter will make a run, but in the end they’ll be the final two teams to fall short. It comes down to the D-Backs and Phillies, and, I’m going with...Philadelphia (I just went back and forth for the last 30 minutes). Although the Phillies made the playoffs last season because the Mets collapsed, they did so with Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins dealing with independent issues, and they ended up winning the World Series. On paper, the team appears too talented to not play its way into October where it will lose in the first round and watch from home as New York defeats the Cubs in seven games in the NLCS. In a rematch of the 1986 Series, the Red Sox will get their revenge because of their aforementioned stellar pitching front to back. NL Wild Card: Philadelphia Phillies; NL Champion: New York Mets; World Series Champion: Boston Red Sox

Continue reading "The Sports Don's Sunday Musings: ..."

aff, and a slue of injury plagued players Boston hopes will make a significant impact.

Unlike the New York Yankees, the Sox didn’t sign any marquee free agents this past winter, but my hometown bias aside, it’s because they didn’t need to. Boston signed John Smoltz (210-147, 3.26 ERA career), Brad Penny (32-13, 3.65 ERA in his last two healthy seasons), Takashi Saito (81 saves, 1.95 ERA career), Rocco Baldelli and traded Coco Crisp to Kansas City for Ramon Ramirez (2.64 ERA in 71.2 innings in ’08). As Jayson Stark wrote on ESPN earlier this month, "One team tried to solve its problems with $423 million worth of free agents. The other team brought in a bunch of guys who spent about 423 million days in the trainer's room."

Continue reading "The Sports Don Returns with His 2009 ..."

I have to admit, this edition of The Sports Don’s Sunday Musings was harder for me to compile than the previous two weeks. Maybe it’s because I’m still bull over Steven the Black Jack Dealer cheating me out of all of my money at Foxwoods or perhaps it’s because I’m trying to remember to DVR Dark Days in Monkey City. Either way, I still managed to ramble on especially long this weekend so I’ll keep the words typed in the remainder of my intro to a minimum...here it is.

Continue reading "The Sports Don's Sunday Musings: Volume III"

“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make, you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.” – Matthew 7: 1-3

Yes, that’s correct. I just quoted the Bible. Enjoy it, because the only other biblical reference I’ll make is when I inevitably tell the story of how Larry Bird created the world in six days and rested on the seventh to watch Tom Brady win the Super Bowl. The reason I’m recruiting an Apostle is because I want to show each and every one of my readers that I’m not messing around. Enough is enough. We’re a forgiving culture. Let’s check ourselves before we wreck ourselves.

Continue reading "Sympathy for the Steroid Devils"

Another week has come and gone, and there is another Sunday crossword to make me feel like college was a waste of money and another week of sports in our memory banks. From the aftermath of Alex Rodriguez’ steroid scandal to a NBA player looking like the lovechild of a Georgetown basketball coach and a patriotic Muppet, there’s much to talk about and a whole lot more on my mind.

Continue reading "The Sports Don's Sunday Musings: Volume II"

This past week we had the coming out party by All-Star third basemen Alex Rodriguez on the issue of his steroid use. Many people were unshocked and eager to attack as this baseball player is the viva

Continue reading "Alex Rodriguez"

As a citizen of Red Sox Nation, it is my duty to hate everything Yankees, from the Yankee Way, to attempting to buy championships, their players, and even vertical pinstripes. 

But I get a huge sense of relief to see third baseman Alex Rodriguez quickly admit to taking performance enhancing drugs. For once a high profile baseball player that denied P.E.D. use didn’t answer an accusation with another denial. 

Continue reading "A-Rod's Apology Feels A Little Dirty"

One of the great things about sports is that every week fans are provided with a plethora of new topics to think about and discuss. Along with my other posts, starting today, and continuing every Sunday for the foreseeable future, I am going to supply my readership with an opportunity to peer inside my oversized cranium and take a peek at what I’m mulling over.

Continue reading "The Sports Don's Sunday Musings"

I'd like to take a break from all of this basketball nonsense for a moment and address an issue that has been eating at me since this past fall and desperately needs a resolution in the near future.  As many of you out there know, Spring Training is less than a month away, and for the first time in more than a decade, it seems as though the Boston Red Sox may be facing a new season without their captain, Jason Varitek.  This is just wrong, and although he'll be 37 in April and his offensive production has dipped dramatically in recent years, the Red Sox still need number 33 behind the plate come April.  Anything else would be a travesty, plain and simple.

Continue reading "Rightful Place"

I can't believe I'm about to say this. It makes me feel dirty just thinking about it. But it's what has to be done.

Go Jets.

 Ugh! I'm gonna need a shower.

As much as I despise New York and their teams (the Yankees once again came through with more than $400 million reasons to hate them more this off-season), for once, I want the Jets to win.

Continue reading "Sacreligious"

The Yankees have gotten their holiday gifts early this year with starting pitchers CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. I could rant and rave about how Stienbrennerclaus had to spend oodles of cash in order to bring New York some holiday cheer but the fact remains; the Yanks just hauled in the top two free agent pitchers on the market. Now that the Bronx Bombers aren't using Sidney Ponson as their number three man in the rotation we can expect them to once again be pushing towards playoff glory in the dominate A.L. East. As a Red Sox fan I can't help but be upset in losing both these arms so let's look towards the bright side. 

Continue reading "The Death Star was Rebuilt and so ..."

The Denver Nuggets did the right thing in getting rid of Allen Iverson.  They never should have traded for Iverson to begin with.  Iverson is one of the most overrated basketball players in the history of the NBA.  The Pistons are sure to suffer and lose all hope of any run to a title.

Continue reading "Allen Iverson Trade is Stupid Move on Pistons Part"

Secondly, signing him would keep him away from the New York Yankees, who are sure to make a strong push for Teixeira and any other big name free agents this off-season. If the Red Sox are unabl

Continue reading "Adios To Mike Lowell"

Wouldn't you know it, in the midst of my involuntary sarcastic wise cracks about Jason Giambi's facial hair and all things Yankee on Sunday night, I actually got a little emotional about the closing of Yankee Stadium.

Continue reading "Before they blow it up ..."

eller's diatribe (entitled Boston Red Sox: Masters of the Mediocre) because I'm not a member of the New York Yankees site, and I refuse to defile myself in such a way as to sign up for it. So here is my simple response to his over-caffeinated, ill-timed (given the Yankees utter futility this season) and strangely aggressive post.

Continue reading "The Tables Have Turned"

Like a scene from the beloved long-running television drama, I feel like I'm looking through a one-way window at the Boston Red Sox. Indeed, I fear the word "lineup" has taken on a conotation with a decidedly more law enforcement feel at this point. "Mr Francona, take a look at these men and tell me if you recognize anyone."

Continue reading "Law and Order"

The only team that I see possibly standing in the way of the Red Sox and the playoffs are the New York Yankees.

Continue reading "Enough About Manny !"

Remember last postseason when Josh Beckett was making three of the best teams in Major League Baseball look like the Bad News Bears? It was right about then everyone anointed him the anchor of the Boston pitching staff and forecasted a shelf or two full of Cy Young trophies.

Continue reading "Ladies and Gentlemen, Jon Lester ..."

Well, basketball is over and Major League Baseball is heading into the All Star break, which means that the real baseball season is about to begin.  I know, I am waaaaaaaaaaayyyyy overdue for this year's first rabid Red Sox post, but honestly I've been a little bit preoccupied with the WORLD CHAMPION BOSTON CELTICS and basketball in general (it has overtaken baseball as my favorite sport, though the Red Sox are and always will be my first love) to really dive into the first three meaningless months of the grueling and arduous MLB season.

Continue reading "Just Hit"

At the mid-point of the '08 season, when many players are being lauded for their first-half accomplishments, I think it would be a disservice to the deserving fumblers around the league not to recognize their remarkable level of ineptitude.

Continue reading "Baseball's All-Underachieving Squad"

So can we please talk about Jason Giambi's mustache for a second? First the guy admits to wearing a gold thong when he needs to break out of a slump (it's hard to imagine that's all he's "breaking out of" in that kind of attire). And now he goes ahead and grows a full-out, mid-80s, Magnum PI mustache. Add these two nuggets to the fact that he's one of the 3 sweatiest humans on the planet, and that he's a New York Yankee, and you have the grossest person in America. Ever. Period.

Continue reading "Now playing first base for the New ..."

After falling behind Tampa Bay by three games, the Red Sox were hopeful going into Saturday’s match against the third-place Yankees. Francona put his faith into the young rookie pitcher, Masterson, even after his loss June 30 against Tampa Bay, and gave him the start, leaving Buchholz in the minors. Justin Masterson gave up two walks and two runs through six innings. Two walks aren’t bad for six innings, but there were more bases given off hit batters; in fact, between the two teams, the game tied the record for hit batters with seven. Manny Ramirez received three of those missed pitches, and even Yankees catcher, Molina, was hit by a foul tip off Pedroia’s bat.  Maybe Pedroia was just taking out his frustration over the poor call on what would have been at least a double having blatantly bounced over the bag at third, but the umpire saw it as foul.

Continue reading "Sox Still Second"

Two nights, two wins at Yankee Stadium ... that's more like it. We've also found two ways to prevent our bullpen from blowing a game - either take a seven-run lead into the ninth, or have your starter pitch the first nine innings (that's all of them, if you're scoring at home).

Continue reading "Keeping the bull in the pen"

So there I was, lounging on the couch with my dog, half-way paying attention to Kevin Cash's eighth-inning at-bat Wednesday night. Half-way paying attention, you see, because Cash's last 40 or so trips to the plate have resulted in something of a similar outcome - ugliness. Obviously nobody is expecting a 40-40 season from a back-up catcher, and he continues to do what he was brought here to do - catch Wake - but his swing hasn't exactly been drawing comparisons to Griffey, Jr. of late.

Continue reading "Catching A Break"