Tag Archives: Red Sox

What Happens Next Doesn’t Matter

06 Wednesday Oct 2021

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Whatever happens in the MLB playoffs from this morning forward is OK with me. The Sox don’t have to win the ALDS, the ALCS, or the World Series.

I kid you not.

That my beloved Sox came from last place in the 2020-shortened 24-46 (.400) season to this year’s 92-70 (.568) and a decisive Wild Card win last night is satisfying enough.

Of course, I’d be delighted if they go further into the 2021 playoffs and (unlikely) get to the World Series and even win it for the fifth time in the last 17 years.

But I’m not expecting it. Nor do I hunger for it.

In 2018 I wrote a post on MillersTime entitled For Me, The Sox Don’t HAVE to Win the World Series. A number of you took exception to that article, but much like this year, the fact that the Sox made it to the WS then was satisfying. After all, the long nightmare (86 years) had ended with their WS win in 2004. No longer did I have to hear or think about “Wait ‘Til Next Year.”

So whatever happens against the Rays and any further playoff games would be a langiappe, the Cajun-French noun that means “a little extra.”

And as for last night’s victory over the Yankees, that came in the best way possible.

It was a total team victory: good pitching (Eovaldi was at his best and the bullpen was equally lights out; good hitting (starting with Bogaert’s two run HR in the first); good defense (led by Hernandez, Bogaert, and Plawecki’s throwing Judge out at home to squash a Yankee comeback); good coaching and managing (Cora made all the right moves in this one), and a fan base that kept Fenway Park loud and in support of the Sox.

PS – Although I doubt it made a significant difference, on Sunday, the Yankees had to choose whether they would want to play in Boston or Toronto. They chose Boston. The Sox knew of that decision.

PSS – I have to admit that for most of the time last night, I did not enjoy the game. Given my long obsession (70+ years) with the Sox and how that had left me with “if something bad can happen to the Sox, it will”, I kept a rein on my emotions and only after the final out was I able to breathe normally.

That’s kinda sad, I know.

But it’s all part of being a Sox fan.

2021 was a much better year for my heroes than anyone, anyone, anyone had predicted or expected.

And the fact that they won the Wild Card game over the Yankees was also a langiappe.

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It’s What You Do, Not What You Say, Chris

20 Monday Sep 2021

Posted by in Escapes and Pleasures, Go Sox

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CHRIS SALE

Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale missed almost two years when he underwent Tommy John surgery and had an extended recovery period. He finally returned this August and has a record of 4-0 in the six games he has pitched in the last two months.

Sale, who is one of the Sox all time best pitchers and a clubhouse leader, has also tested positive twice for COVID-19, most recently several weeks ago when he was then quarantined for 10 days. Fifteen Sox players have likewise landed on the COVID-19 injured list.

When Sale first returned, he said, This game was ripped out of my hands. I had a hole in my chest for two years, and, you know, I’ll be completely honest with you: I took days for granted. I’ve been a big-leaguer for 11 years now. And I took moments, I took days, I took weeks, for granted, and through all of this, I guess I’ve had a huge perspective change. I feel like I can tell you one thing — I’m not wasting another day of my big-league career. That’s just not going to happen.

But Chris Sale’s behavior does not match his words.

Friday night he responded to a reporter’s question about whether he’s been vaccinated against COVID, saying, Uh, no, I am not.

Whether or not Sale’s 10-day absence and the absence of others on the team will result in what happens to the Sox playoff hopes (they are in the ‘hunt’ for one of the two wild card spots), that is not what is most important.

Whether or not Sale has been responsible for the spread of COVID on the team, he has clearly put himself ahead of his teammates in his refusal to be vaccinated.

What Sale has done, in my opinion, is selfish.

Words can be true or not.

But Behavior doesn’t lie.

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Throw the Book at the Sox

08 Wednesday Jan 2020

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If the current allegations that my beloved Red Sox illegally stole signs in the 2018 baseball season using video replay, they should pay the heaviest of prices.

No matter that other teams do and did something similar.

No matter that it could only happen if there was a runner on second.

No matter any of the other excuses that are being made.

They, and other MLB teams, had been explicitly warned by MLB against this sign stealing.

They had been caught and fined earlier for using an Apple watch to relay signs.

Using technology to cheat, which is increasingly possible and available, cheapens the game, and cheaters need to know that continuing to do so will cost them heavily.

Just as the penalties now for use of PEDS (performance enhancing drugs) have become severe, so too should the penalties for this cheating be severe.

MLB , in my humble opinion, should throw the book at the Sox:

  1. Suspend Alex Cora (whom I’ve greatly admired, until now) for a year from managing. And a second infraction under his watch, if he returns to baseball, should result in his permanent removal from baseball.
  2. The Red Sox should lose their first two draft picks in the coming year.
  3. The Red Sox should be fined a significant amount of money (in the millions).
  4. Any further such violations by the Red Sox, these penalities should double.

What say others?

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Predictions, Notes, Questions & Repeating History

06 Saturday Apr 2019

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  • From Fenway Park in 2005 and soon to be repeated. See Notes below

I. Some Predictions from MillersTime Baseball Contestants

Contest 1: MillersTime contestants say it will be the Dodgers vs either the Red Sox or Yankees in the 2019 World Series, and they believe the American League team will win it in six games.

Contest 3:  No doubt here. Overwhelming choice is the American League to win the All Star game. Scherzer (or maybe Sale) will be the first pitcher to win 12 games. Harper, Stanton, and Judge all tied for first to hit 25 home runs.

Contest 4:     Contestants split evenly between those who think the Yankees will win the AL East and those who don’t, but they seem to think the Nats will definitely not win the NL East. Everyone seems to think one of my ‘grand’ children will see at least one of the following: a grand slam, a triple play, a no hitter, Teddy winning the President’s race, will go home with a foul ball, will have his/her pix taken with an MLB mascot, or will be on the TV screen at an MLB stadium. (Has happened yet, but I’m working on this one.)

Other Contest Predictions: Too complicated to post here. But thanks to all who participated.

II. Baseball Notes and Two Questions:

***Check out this article that looks at a different, but easy way to judge who are the best hitters in baseball: Secondary Average by Victor Mather, NY Times, April 5, 2019. (Hat Tip to Joe H for alerting me)

***There’s a new book out by one of today’s top baseball writers, Tyler Kepner of the NY Times. A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches. Reviews have been outstanding, and I’ll let you know what I think as soon as I finish it. (It’s due to arrive at my house April 7.)

***Every time I attend a baseball game, I’m looking for something I never saw before. A few days ago this: Tie game between the Phillies and the Nats in DC. Bottom of the 9th. First man up for the Nats gets a single. Then the the Phillies’ pitcher walks the next two batters. Bases loaded. And he does it again. A third walk. Walking in the winning run for the Nats. What do we call that? A Three Walk Walk-Off? A Triple Walk Walk-Off? A Walk-Off Walk? Bad pitching? Terrible managing? Let me know what you would call it. And I suppose you all know the actual definition of ‘Walk-Off’ win. It’s not the winning team walking off. It’s about the losing team having to ‘walk off’ the field after they’ve ‘blown’ the game.

***Not sure if it’s my getting older (which is certainly happening), but I’ve already attended four games at Nats’ Park, and I’m sure they’ve cranked up the loud speakers, making it difficult to talk and hear each other between innings. one of the enjoyable aspects of seeing a game with a son, daughter, wife, father, grandfather, grandchild and/or friends. Is this increase in noise level happening elsewhere too? Or am I just getting more like my parents did at a similar stage in their lives?

III. Repeating History

***Finally, heading to Boston with the three females in my life – wife Ellen, and daughters Annie and Elizabeth – to ‘treat’ them to Opening Day, April 9 in Fenway where the World Series flag will be raised, a huge banner will be dropped across the Green Monster, and the WS rings will be given out. I took them in 2005 (see photo above) when the Yankees had to sit in the Visitors’ dugout and watch the ceremonies after the best ever WS win in my lifetime. Now, with this fourth WS victory in this early part of the 21st century — eat your hearts out Yankee fans — my only regret is that my daughters and grand children will never truly understand what I had to go through for most of my baseball life – though I think Elizabeth kind of understands. If you’ve never read this, don’t miss: The E-Mail on the Kitchen Table, posted 12.19.08 on MillersTime but written just after the Sox finally won it all in 2004. A must read.

IV. PS

***You can look forward to an upcoming post, Opening Day Thru Ellen’s Lens, with commentary attached.

Ellen’s Photo from Oriole Park at Camden Yards




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An Admission

06 Tuesday Nov 2018

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(Photo by Jim Davis / Globe Staff)

An Admission

The Red Sox played 14 postseason games this year.

As everyone who cares about such things knows, they won the World Series.

They lost only three games on their way to the World Series, one each against the three (other) best teams in 2018 – Yankees, Astros, Dodgers.

Admission: I did not watch the first 13 games.

But I did watch the 14th and final game from start to finish.

So what’s up with that? How could I not watch my heroes?

Digression: In 2004, when the Sox hadn’t won the World Series in 86 years, I was watching at home on TV when they defeated the Cards in the third game of the WS to take a 3-0 lead. I got on a plane in DC early the next morning to fly to St. Louis (didn’t have a ticket to the game), after wrestling with myself whether or not to go.

My dilemma was how could I not go when my wonderful grandfather (Pappy) had introduced me to the Sox when I was seven years old. Never in his lifetime did he see the Sox win a World Series. I had to go for him. But, having been ‘schooled’ by being a Red Sox fan for 54 years at that time (now it’s been 68 years of pain and joy), I feared another disaster (think Bill Buckner, Bucky Dent, etc.) and wondered about being far away from home if that disaster struck, and the Sox lost to the Cards.

My love for my grandfather and reasoning that if I went to St. Louis and they lost the fourth game, I could stay for one more game. If they lost that one, I could hasten home with the Sox up three games to two, and I could lock myself in our study and suck my thumb while they blew the next two games.

I went. They won. It was the end of a long nightmare and a wonderful night that I will never forget (see this earlier post from my younger daughter who left a letter for me on the kitchen table to see when I returned: The Email on the Kitchen Table).

Admission, cont.:

Knowing myself, somewhat, I chose not to watch or listen to the first 13 games of the 2018 post season. The regular season had been superb with the Sox winning the most games ever in their history, going 108-54. They had a winning percentage of 67%, and I had watched many of those games as it was clear to me that something special was happening this year. And I posted that it didn’t matter if they won the World Series or not as they had given me and other fans a wonderful season (see For Me, the Sox Don’t HAVE to Win the World Series). I got a lot of criticism for that post and disbelief. But I meant it.

Plus, I couldn’t bear to watch them lose to the Yankees, Astros, or the Dodgers, as anything is possible in the postseason, especially to the Sox. So I went to bed every night not knowing the score of the first 13 games, often waking in the middle of the night to see what had happened. (Fortunately, Ellen kept silent about what was happening in each game as she apparently continually checked the score on her iPhone). If I saw they won, I would then watch every video and read everything about that win. If they lost (which they only did three times), I would immediately go back to sleep, except for that 18 inning game they lost to the Dodgers. That one demanded I read about what happened, and the ‘boo birds’ started with saying the WS had turned around, and the Sox would likely lose now.

When the Sox won the next game the next day and went ahead 3-1 over the Dodgers, I was presented with the same dilemma as I had had in 2004. If I watched, and they lost, it would be a miserable three-four hours, leaving me in pain.

But if they won, how could I not have watched it, including the celebrations at the end?

And after all, I ‘reasoned,’ they still would have three more chances to win the WS. So I didn’t really need to be fearful of sharp instruments or high places if they lost that fifth game.

I watched it.

You all know how this story ended.

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For Me, The Sox Don’t HAVE to Win the World Series

27 Thursday Sep 2018

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Elise Amendola/Associated Press

I head off later today to Boston with my nine year old grandson Eli for a trip to Fenway Park, planned months and months ago, to see the final three games of what has turned out for me to be a wonderful 2018 baseball season. (If you haven’t seen my earlier post about our first trip to this Red Sox temple, check out  A Seven Year Old’s First Trip to Fenway.)

All three of these games will be against the Yankees, but these three games will have no major bearing on the playoffs. Rather, for me they will be a celebration of what has been the best regular season record in the 118 year history of the team. Their record, prior to these last three games, is 107-52, two wins better than their previous franchise record.

I could write pages on why this year has been so successful (see my earlier post, Success Has Many Fathers… for at least some the reasons I believe my heroes have done so well). And I could also list dozens of reasons why it has been the single best season in at least the 68 years since my grandfather first took me to Fenway when I was seven.

Yes. They won the World Series in 2004 after almost a century of not doing so. And then they won the WS twice more within the succeeding ten year period. The 2004 win was certainly the highlight of my (baseball) life as a long suffering Sox fan.

But, in some ways, this year has been at least as wonderful. Ever since Spring Training when the Sox went 22-9 (.710), they have played at a pace between .675 and .700+. Do you know what that means to a baseball fan, especially to a Red Sox fan?

It has meant that almost seven out of every ten games the Sox have played, they’ve won – sometimes on hitting, sometimes on starting pitching, some on relief pitching, some times on fielding, sometimes on base running, and often even when they were down as many as six or seven runs. They never lost more than three games in a row the entire season.

For me, that meant that I could go to sleep most nights ‘celebrating’ a victory. Also, it meant my wife Ellen did not have to sleep beside a disgruntled bed partner. And that went on for SIX months, half a year. Simply unheard of for this obsessive baseball fan.

Now, I’ve been reading and hearing for months that the season doesn’t matter if the Sox don’t at least make it into the World Series…and for some, they have to win the WS to make 2018 truly a special year.

Not so for me.

Of course I want them to win it all, and I’ll not be a happy camper if they don’t go far into the playoffs.

But nothing can take away how wonderful this season has been. How delightful it has been to see this group of 25+ players, along with their coaches, their staff, their ownership do what no other Red Sox team has ever done, and to see the joy on their faces seven out of every ten games.

Isn’t there some over used meme about getting there being half the fun?

In fact, I think one of my daughters wrote her college essay on the Ursula La Guin quote, “It’s good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.”

For me, this year’s Red Sox journey has been what matters.

 

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“Success Has Many Fathers…”

09 Thursday Aug 2018

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                            (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)

With the unexpected weekend sweep of four games over the Yankees Sunday night, the Sox went 9.5 games ahead of their chief rivals, the boys from the Bronx. As of last night, the Sox have a record of 81-35 (.704), and both Sox and Yankee followers are saying the race is over for the AL East Division.

Those of us who have been Sox fans for many years (at least 68 of my 75 years) know the truth of “it’s never over ’til it’s over.” With six games remaining between these two teams in the last 12 games of the season, if the Yankees make up five or so in the meantime, anything can happen.

Nevertheless, to play at a rate of winning seven out of every ten games for the first 115 games of the season is pretty special. Friends and foes alike have been asking me what’s making the Sox so good this year and are asking if I think it will it last.

As an obsessed and subjective Sox fan, these are the factors that strike me.

Continue reading »

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According to MillersTime Baseball Fans…

20 Friday Apr 2018

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Finally, and happily for some of us, we’re about 10% into the 2018 baseball season, and there are some early indications of what is ahead of us.

First, however, a look at what MillersTime readers, as gleaned from their entries into the annual contest, have predicted for the season:

1. It will be a Dodgers vs Yankees World Series and a toss up as to which team will win it all.

2. The Astros and the Nats will get close but not go all the way.

3. The American League will again win the All Star game (‘”Duh,” as my daughter writes).

4. Giancarlo Stanton will beat Aaron Judge as the first to hit 30 HRs, and Clayton Kershaw will beat Corey Kluber and Max Scherzer to 12 wins.

5. Nats fans think they’ll win 96 games but most don’t believe they’ll get to or win the WS.

6. Sox fans (ever the pessimists) predict 93 wins but little chance of making it into or winning the WS.

7. Yankee fans think their heroes will win 96 and have a good shot at winning it all.

8. Dodger fans say 98.6 wins and have a 33% chance of winning the WS.

9. Pitching seems to be what most of you believe will be the determining factor in how your team fares.

10. Most of you think there will be at least one 20 game winner but no (starting) pitchers with an ERA under 2.0.

11. Most don’t believe Stanton and Judge will hit as many HRs as last year (111) and certainly not 115.

12. Those who believe there will be at least three teams with 100 wins or more slightly out number the doubters.

13. And almost everyone believes that one of my grand kids will witness in person an MLB grand slam, a triple play, a no hitter, an extra inning game, or Teddy winning the President’s race. If one of little tykes had been with me the other night, they would have seen two of those events.

As to how much we can know from the first 10% of the season, it does look as if the Nats are not the shoe-ins many predicted, and the Dodgers are off to a bad start, tho they seem to be trying to overcome that. The Yankees are struggling a bit, and unless their pitching improves, they may not even make it into post season.

On the other hand, the Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, and Angels are doing better than predicted, as are the Mets and the Phillies (watch out Nats).

And then there are my heroes, the Sox. As a true Boston fan, I swing back and forth between believing/fearing what’s happening (16-2) is not going to last and hoping that everyone stays healthy and they continue to pitch, hit, and field at the rate they are now doing.

Finally, one big concern: the attendance at MLB is down markedly (see this article). It’s not clear if that is weather related (probably not) or some other factors are at play. So, go to a game. Take a kid. Or a friend or two.

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“America Has Spoken: The Yankees Are the Worst” – 538

24 Monday Jul 2017

Posted by in Articles & Books of Interest, Go Sox

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Well, something that we Sox fans have known from our first scrape with the Evil Empire has now been verified. While you-know-who-might call it fake news or question the source of this information and article (FiveThirtyEight), it is comforting to have ‘verification’ of what some of us have long known.

Check out this article which also includes ‘info’ on which teams are most liked and lots of other useful/useless information:

America Has Spoken: The Yankees Are the Worst (and the nation mostly agrees the Cubs are pretty cool), by Harry Enten, 538, July 20, 2017.

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Seeing Ourselves in Others

07 Sunday May 2017

Posted by in Articles & Books of Interest, Go Sox

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For those of you who have read some of my baseball related posts on MillersTime, you know that I’m not only obsessed with the game but also believe that there are many life lessons to be learned from baseball. Unfortunately, it has become a cliche to say that the game imitates life (or is it that life imitates the game?), used mostly by baseball fans trying to justify to nonbelievers the importance and value of this wonderful sport.

I was reminded of the intersection of baseball and life the other day when an alert reader (Harry Siler) sent me a link to an article by Doug Glanville**, a former baseball player. Since 2008 Glanville has been a guest columnist for the NYTimes and, until a few weeks ago, was a baseball analyst for ESPN for seven years. (He was laid off with several hundred other ESPN employees in a major company staff reduction.)

In a May 5 NYTimes article, Red Sox, Racism and Adam Jones, Glanville writes about his own fears of possibly being traded to the Red Sox, but it is his way of looking at the recent racial incident(s) at Fenway Park in Boston that most interested me. In his usual common sense way, Glanville concludes:

Baseball gives us a chance to see ourselves in everyone, at times reflecting the image of some complex and difficult shadows in our society. That is a big step toward mutual understanding. As hard as it is, we need to see ourselves in the fans who were ejected. Having biases is human, our flawed yet efficient way to create shortcuts in our lives. But we need to check them more honestly if we are to really understand how to move forward.

We would all do well to avoid these shortcuts in our lives and check our own biases.

Check out his short article: Red Sox, Racism and Adam Jones, by Doug Glanville.

And if  you want to learn more about him, check out Doug Glanville, From Ivy League to Center Field, NPR, including an excerpt from his book, The Game From Where I Stand.

**(Glanville played 15 seasons in professional baseball, nine of them in the Majors, with the Phillies, Cubs, and Rangers before he retired in 2004. He was outstanding center fielder, going his last 293 games without making an error. He hit .325 one year and had a lifetime BA of .277. He also graduated from U of Penn with a degree in systems engineering.)

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Unacceptable, Sox Fans

02 Tuesday May 2017

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Baltimore Orioles’ Adam Jones was subjected to racial slurs and at least one object (bag of peanuts) thrown at him last night at Fenway. He indicated this was not the first time this has happened at Fenway but was the nastiest one.

Apparently the person (I hesitate to say fan) who threw the peanuts and some others were removed from the stadium.

That is not sufficient.

The Sox need to make it clear that individuals who behave in such a manner will never be allowed to return to Fenway and that they will be turned over to the Boston police for prosecution.

If currently there are no grounds for legal action in Boston, the city and state legislature should immediately pass such laws.

And fans who hear such taunts and observe such behaviors should vocally object and should call Sox security.

There should be zero tolerance for such abhorrent behavior.

Period.

See: Red Sox Issue Statement on Jones Incident, Sam Kennedy, Red Sox President

See: No Place for what Jones Faced, by Richard Justice

See: Adam Jones Calls Fenway Fans Cowards…

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My ‘Work’ Is Done

27 Thursday Apr 2017

Posted by in Family and Friends, Go Sox

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Before you read any further, check out the photos above carefully. What you can see is my 14th month old granddaughter now ‘sporting’ —  so to speak — diapers that clearly display what I trust will be her life choice of a favorite baseball team.

Believe it or not, her mother, my younger daughter, was the person who found and procured said diapers. (I admit I did support the idea once she mentioned it to me, but in truth, it was all her idea.)

Thus, my ‘work’ is done as far as this grandchild is concerned. Her mother seems to have it all well under control.

However, just in case, here are a few further actions she might take to embed a Sox obsession in her progeny:

  • Secure appropriate clothing each year of Samantha’s life which touts the Sox, Wally, Fenway, etc. (She might want to wait on any ‘Green Monster’ clothing until Samantha is old enough not to be fearful of monsters. Note: A ‘mistake’ was made with my then three year old grandson who was scared by a Green Monster t-shirt I procured for him. Only now, when he is almost four, has he begun to wear it. Hopefully, no long term damage was done.)
  • Parents should themselves, at various times, ‘sport’ appropriate Sox gear and should definitely avoid anything even resembling Yankee clothing. KC Royals’ gear (current home team) is problematic as mixed messages are rarely good for children.
  • Turn the TV on whenever the Sox are on, particularly if it is a playoff or World Series game.
  • Remind Samantha frequently that supporting the Sox is very important to the child’s maternal grandfather.
  • Find a player on the Sox team who is young and/or recognizable and have the child focus on that individual. Ages seven to eight have been found to be the earliest appropriate times to begin serious understanding of baseball. (Note: This has worked well with at least two of her cousins, and I plan to continue this ‘tradition’ with the third cousin when he reaches the age of seven.)
  • Plan her first trip to Fenway when she’s seven or eight. Assuming the early years of propagandizing have produced a desirable result, such a trip can ‘close the deal’ and make said individual a lifelong Sox fan. (Note: Said parents are off to a good start having taken her to a Sox game at the age of two months, tho it’s true the young babe was torn away from her earphones and taken home for bedtime in the second inning.)
  • As often as you can, take Samantha on or near her birthday to a Sox game, and, if possible, make it a birthday celebration with some of her friends attending also. (Note: This strategy may only work for a few years until she realizes there are more fun ways to celebrate her birthday.)
  • The teenage years are too late for any real Sox indoctrination as adolescents seem to get a mind of their own. Thus, it is crucial to be sure that by that time, the parental unit has fully passed on this obsession, which has been in our family now for five generations.
  • Check on whether there are Red Sox diapers in new born sizes (as that will be necessary soon.) We know the new baby will have plenty of onesies and t-shirt to wear, but you never know if the supply of these properly labeled diapers will be available after the initial run on them.

I do want to congratulate her mother on finding the lovely diapers, which gives me  a good deal of relief that I do not have to worry about Samantha’s Sox education.

And a final special note to Samantha’s father: There is no problem encouraging her to follow both an NFL and a MLB team. And while I suspect he will favor football over baseball, it is possible, and quite important, for him to participate in this essential parental duty of supporting Samantha’s potential life long love of the Sox.

                                                                 Photography by Ellen Miller

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Connecting Generations

03 Friday Mar 2017

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Among so many other wonderful things, baseball is also about connecting generations. Look around you at any MLB  or professional game, especially a day game, and you’ll see fathers/mothers with their sons/daughters. Look more closely, and you’ll see grandfathers/grandmothers with their grandsons/granddaughters.

(Digression: I’ve written elsewhere on this site about my wonderful grandfather who introduced me to Fenway Park and my Red Sox obsession when I was less than 10 years old. I’ve written about taking my daughters to games for years, including World Series victories! And about my belief that it’s never too early to start because here’s what can happen. Most recently, I blogged about taking my then seven year old to his first Fenway game and taking my six year old granddaughter to see the Nats. And if what my grandson promised me (unasked!) — that he would take his grandson to Fenway Park — then that will be seven generations (over 100 years) of family seeing the Sox and baseball together and sharing wonderful memories of being connected with each other.)

Thus, a long lead in to something new this year I am adding to my annual MillersTime Baseball Contests:

Consider a Joint Submission with a son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, niece, nephew or with your father, mother, aunt or uncle, or grandfather or grandmother. If you and your ‘generational companion’ win, then both of you will get a ‘prized’ MillersTime Winner T-shirt and two tickets to a regular season game of your choice.

This addition is clearly a transparent attempt to encourage different generations to discuss baseball and for one generation to pass on their baseball interest to a younger generation, or, if you’re participating with an older generation, to get that older generation to share with you things from their past.

My definition of ‘different generations’ is a loose one, and as long as you ‘discuss’ some of the contests with someone older or younger and submit joint answers to the contests, then you will qualify. Even if you have to drag some kid off his/her Internet device or an elder out of his or her 4 PM dinner.

I am hoping for at least ten submissions this year that are Joint Submissions. And I am hoping that at least some of those are from women with a daughter, a son, a niece, a nephew, a mother, a grandmother, or a grandfather, etc. — the possible combinations are almost endless.

Please consider being one of the Joint Submitters.

See: 2017 MillersTime Baseball Contests :

2017 MillersTime Baseball Contests

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“There’s a Time to Leave the Party”

25 Thursday Feb 2016

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My dear father Sam Miller told me frequently over the last quarter of his life, “There’s a time to leave the party.”

I told him I understood and continually asked him, “How do you know when that time has come?”

“That,” he said, “is something you have to figure out for yourself.” (I do think he hinted it was better to leave too early than to stay too late.)

Of course, the “party” can be many things. (I think he first mentioned his mantra when I was considering whether to retire from the school a group of us had created and operated for 30+ years, but he also often mentioned “leaving the party” when he was talking about the end of his own life.)

For those of you (un)lucky ones who may not follow the Boston Red Sox too closely, David Ortiz, Big Papi, told the baseball world on Nov. 19, 2015 — his 40th birthday — that 2016 would be his final year in baseball, saying, “After next year, time is up.” (To see and hear his full announcement, go to the video Ortiz posted to The Players’ Tribune.)

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I’ll spare you a review of how good Ortiz’s season was in 2015 and all the things he’s done with his bat, what he’s meant to his team, to the Red Sox Nation, to the city of Boston, to baseball in general, and to his countrymen in the Dominican Republic. There’ll be innumerable articles about all of that throughout the coming season. It’s fair to say, I believe, he’s as close to a lock on getting into the Hall of Fame (may be even the first year he’s eligible) as it’s possible to be.

(Also, check out these two articles, Ortiz still hungry but ready to pass the torch and Papi’s swan song will be a celebration for baseball.)

But the purpose of this post is to give you a heads up for this final year. It won’t be the way Derek Jeter did it, who, in my humble opinion, stayed at the party too long. (Despite his playing for the “Evil Empire,” I always liked Jeter and thought he was one of the class guys in baseball.)

Ortiz’s leaving will be more subdued, less scripted. But if you have a kid, take him to see Ortiz, or just go yourself so you can tell your grand kid you saw him in his final year. You don’t have to go to Fenway to see him. Go to a Sox away game, especially if it’s in your own home town, where it might be easier and less expensive to get tickets to a Sox game.

It’s hard to know when Ortiz’s last at bat will be, but here are two dates to know: the final regular season away game is at Yankee Stadium, Thursday, Sept. 29th. And the Sox’s final regular season home game is October 2 at Fenway Park. If you’re a Sox fan, you hope, as always, that there will be a post season and that whenever his final at bat occurs, he will be able to match Ted Williams and hit a home run.

And wouldn’t it be something if Big Papi won the World Series for the Sox with a walk off home run? But I digress.

That’s not really what’s important.

Not only has Ortiz has brought much joy to many of us (and three World Series), but he will be remembered as one of the Red Sox all time greats, probably the best Designated Hitter of all time.

On top of that, he’s a mensch. Just ask anyone associated with the Sox, even the just added David Price, who once thought the worst of Ortiz.

Think about seeing Big Papi in his final year.

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For those of you who may have missed an earlier post this week, I’ve announced the 2016 MillersTime Baseball Contests where you can join others who know anywhere from almost nothing about baseball to those who think they’re experts.

Consider joining this year. There’s no cost, other than a bit of your time. And if you don’t know much about baseball, maybe someone in your family or one of your friends does. Pass it on to them, and if they enter, mention your name, and win, then so do you.

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A Winning Trade

17 Tuesday Nov 2015

Posted by in Articles & Books of Interest, Go Sox

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aac394a2ea3548f992caf4798605cda5-aac394a2ea3548f992caf4798605cda5-0The best trade, baseball and otherwise, is one that benefits both sides of a trade, imho.

If that is so, then I think the recent Sox-Padres trade meets that definition of a ‘best trade’.

While it really isn’t possible yet to evaluate either the short or long term outcome of what Drombrowski has done for/to the Sox, it seems to me that in one trade he’s drastically changed the Sox bullpen for the better – Tazawa in the 7th, Uehara in the 8th, and Kimbrel in the 9th.

The best evaluation of this trade is the one yesterday by Alex Speier. If you haven’t seen it, take a look: 108 Stitches.

Feel free to add to what he has to say in the Comments’ section of this MillersTime/GoSox post.

I don’t know how many of you follow Alex Speier’s 108 Stitches, but if you’re not getting his daily blog post sent to your email, consider doing so. Sometimes there’s more than even the most obsessed of you might want to know, but he’s always informative.

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