The Soul of Baseball: The Winds of Fenway:

I start with this story because today’s blog is about home and road, and how Fenway Park has influenced the way we have watched baseball the last 50 years or so. So right up front, I want to say that I’m not ripping Yaz or Jim Rice or Wade Boggs for putting up big numbers at Fenway Park. A good player takes advantage of his surroundings. Muhammad Ali felt the loosened ring ropes in Zaire and leaned on them. Bart Starr felt the frozen field beneath him and called the quarterback sneak.

An amazing article from Joe Posnanski on the effect of home ballparks on certain ballplayers. More well-researched and thought-out than anything I ever write. Or maybe it isn’t. Perhaps the secret to being a really good, authoritative figure is to right authoritatively with lots of numbers, percentages, and figures that look so mightily impressive, and so thoroughly researched that the mind boggles at even attempting to follow up on them yourself. That way no one ever finds out that you’re completely and utterly talking out of your a**.

That last comment is not referring to Joe, of course, but myself, should you ever see an article as thorough and impressive-looking as all that anywhere, with a byline of me.

And Here I Go Again:

Frankly, you can keep your “I have a dream” and “Ask not what your country can do for you” and that “fourscore and seven years” bullshyte. In my house, James Earl Jones explaining that “people will come” is the greatest thing in the history of things.

Great post from Red at Surviving Grady this morning. “Play ball!”

Surviving Grady: A Diary of Unhealthy Red Sox Obsession:
“From Daisuke Matsuzaka’s blog, domoarigatomistertheo.com [this blog set to private]:”

Very funny stuff from Red, as usual.

What? Eric, are you all right? Who the hell are you talking to?

The message to the Red Sox front office from the fans is clear: Sign Curt Schilling.

Just about everything I’ve read has come down on the side of the Sox, versus a talented pitcher who just cannot keep his big mouth shut. I don’t get how that is a clear message to sign Curt… he’s getting on, he’s no longer the number one sole anchor (I suppose you’d hope Daisuke and Josh and Jon Papelbon will form an incredible tandem anchor (wow, how about that, number one starter by committee, forget the ill-fated bullpen by committee idea), and he’s gone the weasel route and started negotiating through the media. No. Thanks for the bloody sock and all, Curt, but no. We’ll see how you’re feeling at the end of the season.

Boston Red Sox Nation: It Will Be Perfectly Clear by Midnight

Now, I can’t stand Steve Silva. I think he’s a troll. He’s got a serious case of man love for Trot Nixon, and a couple of issues he might like to have sorted out with Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez.

But I just wanted to link here to a quote he had from a caller to WEEI about good old Trot, from whose a** the sun shines, in BDD’s eyes:

“When I heard that the Red Sox might be bringing Trot Nixon back, it restored my faith
in the front office…. he’s gritty, he’s a dirt dog, he would play with a broken leg…
he’s been great in right field.” — Linda, caller to WEEI’s Dale & Holley, 12.1.06

Broken leg, I suppose… torn bicep? Mild left groin strain, out five to seven days. Maybe not. Not that I’d like to play with any injury. Hell, if I woke up tired I might beg off, ask to be put on the disabled list, at least until I get the sleepy seeds out.

I love watching Trot play, and I wish the Sox would keep him (and Manny), but for Pete’s sake, Trot’s no more durable than Manny, so I really don’t get where BDD gets his man love from… and his intense hatred of all things Manny… in fact, you might argue he’s less durable than Manny. I’m not going to get all Sabermetrician on this here (partly because the thought of looking up cold, hard numbers makes my eyes water, and my brain want to throttle itself), but if you care to, it’d be interesting, as I’m sure someone else has already done it, to look at how many days Trot and Manny have missed over the last few years and compare and contrast.

Incoherent rant, over.

I haven’t seen this anywhere (which doesn’t mean it’s not out there, it just means I haven’t been reading a lot, or in the right places these days), but an old co-worker, Japanese, started talking to me about the significance of the dollar amount, related to a great player from the Sox from long ago, and it hit me: 511?

Career wins for Cy Young?

Nice cheeky move, Sox front office, if that’s the reason for the dollar amount.

Gordon Edes discusses the number in his chat, but doesn’t touch on this… did I just miss where this Cy Young connection was discussed?

Now I’m going to go out and try and buy a donut and coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts by using Pedro Martinez’s 1997 ERA of 1.90 as a starting bartering point.