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Tag Archives: Sox

An Admission

06 Tuesday Nov 2018

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

"The E-Mail on the Kitchen Table", 2004 World Series, 2018 World Series, An Admission, Astros, Dodgers, Red Sox, Sox, St. Louis Cards, The Boston Red Sox, Yankees

(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

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

baseball, Boston, Boston Red Sox, Fenway, Fenway Park, Red Sox, Sox

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

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Alex Cora, Andrew Benintendi, Ben Cherington, Boston Red Sox, Brock Holt, Chris Sale, Dave Dombrowski, David Price, Eduardo Nunez, Eduardo Rodriquez. Craig Kimbrel, Ian Kinsler, Jackie Bradley Jr., JD Martinez, John Henry, Mitch Moreland, Mookie Betts, Nathan Eovaldi, NY Yankees, Rafael Devers, Red Sox, Rick Porcello, Sandy Leon, Sox, Theo Epstein

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

24 Monday Jul 2017

Posted by Richard in Articles of Interest, Go Sox

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Tags

538, Best Teams, Boston Red Sox, FiveThirtyEight, Harry Enten, New York Yankees, Red Sox, Sox, Worst Teams, Yankees, Yunkees

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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Unacceptable, Sox Fans

02 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by Richard in Articles of Interest, Go Sox

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Fenway, Fenway Park, Racial Slurs, Red Sox, Richard Justice, Sam Kennedy, Sox

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 Richard in Family and Friends, Go Sox

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Boston Red Sox, Granddaughter, Grandfather, Grandparenting, Parenting, Red Sox, Sox

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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For Baseball Geeks Only

26 Wednesday Apr 2017

Posted by Richard in Articles of Interest, Go Sox

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Baseball MLB, Closers, Goose Egg, Goose Gossage, Houston, Nate Silver, Nats, Os, Relief Pitching, Rockies, Sox

Well the best months of the year are here, and baseball season is underway. The Nats have the best record in the National League, despite having a disastrous bullpen that seems bent on blowing every lead the team has in the late innings. The Os, somehow, are leading in the AL East, perhaps another example of the importance of hitting, tho I can’t imagine hitting will carry the day for either of these two teams.

And my Sox aren’t doing too badly, despite lots of injuries and no David Price. Houston maybe the surprise this year, tho I doubt they’ll continue at a .700 pace. Colorado too is a surprise, so far winning twice as many games as they’ve lost.

Anyway, it’s a long season, and we’re only about 20 games into the 162 game season.

Meanwhile, two of you (BT, JM) have sent me a link to an article that I want to draw to the attention of those baseball fans who love looking beyond just who’s winning and who’s losing. Actually, this article may be too technical for many. And I admit that I have struggled with understanding it all. Even the title is dense.

But take a look. It offers a different way of looking at relief pitchers, particularly closers.

See: The Save Ruined Relief Pitching. The Goose Egg Can Fix It, by Nate Silver.

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Nats’ New Park, Sox’s Fenway South, & When to Get Your Kid Hooked on Baseball

16 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

2017 MillersTime Baseball Contests, Astros, Baseball Contests, Boston Red Sox, Fenway South, Green Monster, Houston Astros, Jet Blue Park, Joe Posnanski, Nats, Orioles, Pesky Pole, Rays, Sox, Spring Training, The BallPark of the Palm Beaches, Thomas Boswell, USA, Washington Nationals, World Baseball Classic

We had heard a good deal about the new Nationals/Astros spring training facility — The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. Thus, when I saw that the Sox would be playing the Nats there, I of course got tickets and met my cousin and some other friends there Mar. 7th.

We had tickets behind the Sox dugout, and, for some reason, the Sox brought most of their starting players. The weather was perfect, and we got to see both first string Sox & Nats players as well as those trying to make the teams. The Sox won, of course, and even if it doesn’t matter who wins Spring Training games, if you’re a Sox fan, you never want them to lose.

Indeed it’s a good park. I don’t think there’s a bad seat in the place. It has 6,500 seats and another 1500 spectators can sit on a grass berm beyond left and right field. The stadium seats are largely in the shade, thanks to good planning and to some over hanging shade structures. There’s an open air concourse that goes from the left field fence all around to the one in right, and you can walk along it without missing a pitch. The only fault I could find with the park was the small scoreboard in the outfield which made it hard to see the names of the players, etc. (But that could also be a factor of my aging eyesight.)

The facility is on 160 acres of what use to be a landfill, trash dump. There are 12 practice fields, six for each team. The Astros have one which is the exact dimensions of their home field, and the Nats have two that are similar to their park in DC. The facility was built quickly, in 15 months, and cost about $150 million, $50 from the state and $100 million from a new county hotel tax. We had heard horror stories about the traffic getting into the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, but thanks to advance word and advice from my cousin, we approached it from the north (?) and had no trouble parking.

There are now four teams that have their Spring Training facilities in the area – Nats, Astros, Cards, and Marlins – so if you have the time and interest, spending a week or so in the Palm Beach area in the month of March will allow you to see those teams as well as ones that come across the state from the West Coast.

 

Then it was on to the West Coast to see other friends and three Sox games, one against the USA World Baseball Classic team, one against the Os, and one against the Rays. Of course, the Sox won all three, and even if the games don’t count for much, if you’re a Sox fan, you always want to see them win.

But the real reason to go was to see Fenway South, i.e.,Jet Blue Park, where the stadium is said to be a replica of Fenway Park in Boston. Built five years ago, after much negotiation with the ‘powers’ in Ft. Myers, the Sox got a new $77.9 million stadium outside of the city on 126 acres, including six practice fields (one with the same dimensions as Fenway) and a rehabilitation center. The funding came, in part, I think, because Lee County was afraid the Sox would move away, and involved some kind of public-private partnership, where much of the public outlay came from a “bed tax” on hotel rooms in the area.

While the main ball park itself has the same dimensions as the one in the north, it didn’t feel so much like Fenway in Boston. Yes. It has a Green Monster, with seats and a net in the middle of the wall, a former Fenway scoreboard that has to be manually updated with the use of a ladder (there’s no room behind the scoreboard to change the score between innings, etc.), a Pesky Pole, a triangle in center field, and a lone red seat (longest HR in Fenway).

The 11,000 seat stadium is quite open and shady, but it didn’t feel anything like Boston’s Fenway to me. I couldn’t tell exactly, but the right field configuration didn’t feel like the Fenway I know and sitting on/in the Green Monster (game vs. the Rays) only faintly resembled the one in Boston. In the game vs the USA team, we sat just to the left of home plate and had an enormous amount of room in which to stretch out. Against the Os, we sat beyond first base and by the end of the game our necks were sore from looking to the left.

Still, it’s the spring home of my heroes, and, like most spring training facilities these days (15 in Florida and 15 in Arizona), you feel close to the players, the weather is delightful (away from the cold and snow of the north), and you get the opportunity to see both starting players and those who are trying to be starters, or will be in several years.

I’ll definitely return. Anyone want to plan next year’s trip with me?

**          **          **          **          **          **          **          **

Readers of this site probably already know of my interest in different generations enjoying baseball together. That’s how I got hooked on baseball, and I’ve carried that on with my own kids and now grand kids.

You may also know of my two favorite current sports’ writers, Joe Posnanski and Thomas Boswell, from whom I learn something every time I read one of their columns.

And so, check out Posnanski’s latest column, wherein he writes about the best age to get your kids/grandkid involved. While the article does focus on Theo Epstein, I post a link to it primarily for the discussion about getting the next generation involved.

And finally, I have not heard from most of you with your predictions for the 2017 MillersTime Baseball Contests. And in case you missed the post, Connecting Generations, there are special prizes this year for submissions that involve cooperation between two generations.

Deadline for submissions is just about two weeks away. Remember, in case of a tie, the predictions submitted earlier wins.

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Truck Day, Spring Training, & The Contest

03 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

"MillersTime" Contest, 2017 MillersTime Baseball Contests, 2017 Spring Training, Boston Red Sox, MillersTime Contest Winners T-Shirts, MLB, MLB Baseball, Nats, Opening Day, Sox, Truck Day, Yunkees

Finally.

Life begins again.

Truck Day for the Red Sox is Feb. 6.

Sox Pitchers & Catchers report to Spring Training Feb. 14.

Sox first full-squad workout is Feb. 17.

(Sox are reporting a week earlier than last year, tho many, if not most, of the players go early to ‘Fenway South’ – JetBlue Park – anyway.)

Sox first Spring Training game is Feb. 23 against Northeastern. and their first Grapefruit League is against the Mets Feb. 24.

And I’ll see the Sox vs the Nats at The Ball Park of The Palm Beaches (the Nats new Spring Training facility) on Mar. 7, and then three games at Jet Blue Park (USA team, O’s, and the Rays) on Mar. 9, 10, & 11.

Opening Day for MLB is April 2 with the Yanks vs Rays and the Cubs vs the Cards. The Sox open at home against the Pirates on April 3, and the Nats also open at home April 3 vs Marlins.

Life takes a turn for the better.

MillersTime 2017 Baseball Contests:

Meanwhile, I’m starting to work on the annual MillersTime Baseball Contest questions for 2017, and I have a few questions I hope you’ll answer:

  1. Usually I have six contests with maybe an Extra Credit one. Is that too many?
  2. I’ve moved from a Sox vs Yunkee focus to questions about your favorite team and ones that require more knowledge of all of MLB. While I try to have a mixture of simple and more complicated contests, what kind of questions in general do you prefer?
  3. I’m open to specific suggestions on new questions. If you have an idea for one for 2017, please send it to me in the next couple of weeks.

I hope to have The Contest questions posted on this website by Mar. 1 with your predictions due by Opening Day, April 2 at 1:10 PM.

Feel free to have your baseball friends join in. If anyone you bring in wins (they need to mention your name), you too will win a prize.

To see last years winners, go to: Summary of 2016 Winners and to see last year’s questions, go to: 2016 MillersTime Baseball Contests.

And all winners will get the exclusive and highly coveted MillersTime Winner baseball t-shirt in addition to individual prizes for each contest.

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Why Some of Us Love Baseball

25 Tuesday Oct 2016

Posted by Richard in Articles of Interest, Go Sox

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, Cubbies, Cubs, Indians, Nats, Sox, Thomas Boswell, Washington "Post", World Series

Grind: Extra Fine (Small Circles & Effect: High Contrast), Brew: Color Gels (1/2 Pic & Full Blended Circles), Serve: Stirred (Flash Burn Tone & Brown Bag Texture)

Photo by Ellen Miller

Great playoffs already.

Starting with two thrilling Wild Card games, moving on thru the losses of my beloved Sox and adopted Nats in their Division series, and to Indians and the Cubs deserved wins in the Championship series, we’ve already seen wonderful playoff baseball.

And tonight to the World Series, where along with the rest of the baseball world — except those who live in Cleveland and those who are related to the players and staff of the Indians — I too hope the Cubs win it all and give relief to all those who have suffered for the past 108 years.

Continue reading »

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Where’s Waldo Now?

21 Wednesday Sep 2016

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

Big Papi, Boston Red Sox, Camden Yards, David Ortiz, MillersTime Baseball Winner T-Shirt, Orioles, Os, Sox

mlbf_1177760183_th_45

OK.

This time, you’re going to have to work harder to find me. (In a previous post, it was ‘quite clear’ where ‘Waldo’ was.)

A MillersTime Baseball Contest Winner T-Shirt to the first person who backwinner-150x150finds me in the crowd at last nights Sox 5-2 win over the Os at Camden Yards.

Ortiz hit a three run homer (after missing one by a few inches in his previous at bat), and the Sox fans, including yours truly, raised their arms and cheered once again.

Update: 9/22/16:

Not surprisingly, I suppose, my daughter Elizabeth spotted me within four minutes of the posting, accurately saying, “Middle left. White shirt, beard, grey hat. Too easy…Your bracelet gives it away.”

She was followed shortly by her husband Brandt who, first got it wrong, as did many of you when he said, “Right fist in air wearing blue and red striped shirt.” But he quickly recovered and wrote, “White t-shirt with the right side of your body cut off.”, adding snarkly, “That’s an unfair question. Waldo was never cut off by the end of the page.” He then demanded I send the T-shirt prize as a onsie for his six month old daughter Samantha (She’s actually a few days from being seven months old.)

And then I heard accurately from my other son-in-law, Edan, who somehow circled the picture and drew arrows to it (how’d he do that?).

Of course, it would not be fair for any of those three to win, being so called family.

The next accurate sighting was from Steve Feldman of Beltmont, MA who wrote, “Upper left of the photo – the right half of your body is cut off.”

So a prized MillersTime Baseball Winner T-Shirt will be on its way to Steve shortly.

Thanx to all who participated.

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Dear Samantha

16 Friday Sep 2016

Posted by Richard in Family and Friends, Go Sox

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

baseball, Best Win of the Year, Boston Red Sox, David Ortiz, Fenway Park, Hanley Ramirez, Mookie Betts, New York Yankees, Sox, Yunkeess

Processed with Snapseed.

Dear Samantha,

From time to time I’ve written a ‘letter’ to your oldest cousin, Eli, usually to tell him something about an obsession of mine — baseball — which is a game that has many similarities to life (more about that another time).

While I know you can’t read just yet, as you’re not even seven months old, I still think it’s never too early for me to begin talking to you about some of the important things a grandfather has learned and can pass on to his grandchildren. (You may remember in the first week of your life I talked to you about the importance of pitching over hitting, another subject to which I will return to in the future.)

This letter today, which I trust your good mother or good father will read to you, is similar to one I wrote to Eli in April of 2015 (see Letter to Eli: Never Leave Until It’s Over). What prompts me to write you at this time is something that happened last night in Boston.

Our heroes, the Boston Red Sox (also known as the Sox) were on the verge of losing to our most despicable opponent, the New York Yunkees. The odds makers said that the Sox chance of winning this game was now less than 2%. It was an important game as the Sox were barely in first place in the American League East Division, and the Orioles, the Blue Jays, and the Yunkees were closing in on them. (Ask your parental unit about any of these details that you don’t totally yet understand.)

The Yunks were ahead of us 5-2 in the bottom of the ninth, and there were two outs. One more out and we’d lose and then our grip on first place would be in further jeopardy. The Yunks had their closer in the game, a guy who throws the ball at 100 miles per hour. Things looked dire for the Sox.

Then, David Ortiz (ask your cousin Eli abut him) got a hit and drove in a run, but  the Sox were still behind (5-3 now) with two outs. Mookie Betts, (Eli knows about him too), the young Sox phenom, then got a hit, and the score closed to 5-4.

Still, just one out would have clinched the game for the Yunks.

With two men on base, and with a batting count of two balls and one strike, Sox first baseman Hanley Ramirez crushed a 99.3 mph fastball 426 feet to straight away center field, and the Sox walked off (ran off) the field with a 7-5 win.

An amazing comeback and probably the best win of the year for the Sox and a disaster for the Yunks, who now, rather being only three games out of first, were five games behind our heroes. (See this article if you want more details about the game.)

The lesson, of course, that I want to emphasize about this victory is that the Sox didn’t give up, even when everything looked hopeless. The Boston fans (the game was at Fenway) all stayed until the very end. And of course I stayed with the game hoping for a miracle come-from-behind-win.

So, never, ever, leave a game until the final out, no matter how bad it seems. Even with two outs and facing a flame throwing pitcher who is good at getting strikeouts, there is always a chance for victory.

(I know, when you were two months old, your mother dragged you away from your first baseball game in KC after the second inning because she was concerned about the effect of loud noise on your ears. So it’s probably OK, if on a rare occasion, for reasons beyond YOUR control, you may have to leave a game early. For example, there could be a medical emergency in your immediate family that only you can solve. You may have promised your spouse that this time you’d be home before midnight. Or your presence might be required at some other emergency involving your child or your work. Those may be understandable and partially excusable reasons for leaving a game early.)

But never, ever leave because you think the game is all but over and your team doesn’t have a chance of winning.

The game, in baseball, as in other areas of your life, is not over until the final out is recorded.

Love,

GrandPapa

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Where’s Waldo?

15 Thursday Sep 2016

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Baltimore Orioles, Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, Kevin Gausman, Mets, Nats, New York Mets, Os, Red Sox Nation, Rick Porcello, Robert Gsellman, Sox, Tanner Roark, The Washington Nationals, Yunkees

jn3_50761473893470Washinton Post Photo/Check out the crowd.

I was too busy watching the pitcher’s duel in DC yesterday between the Nats’ Tanner Roark (who has thrown seven scoreless innings nine times this year) and the Mets’ Robert Gsellman to watch the one between the Sox Ric Porcello (20-4) and the O’s Kevin Gausman.

Both were terrific games, both won on one mistaken pitch (or just good hitting), and both final scores of 1-0.

So the Nats’ magic number’ is seven (combination of Nats’ wins/and or Mets’ losses) for winning their Division and heading to the playoffs.

The Sox are currently in first place by just one game and are in a four way race with the Os, Blue Jays, and Yunkees.

Still, for a team that was in last place in their Division last year, 15 games out of first, the Red Sox Nation has to be pleased with their being in the race this late in the season.

I love baseball (beisbol).

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A Seven Year Olds’ First Trip to Fenway Park

10 Saturday Sep 2016

Posted by Richard in Family and Friends, Go Sox

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Boston, Boston Red Sox, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Evan Longoria, Evan Somma, Fenway Park, grandfathers, grandsons, Green Monster, Hanley Ramirez, Hotel Commonwealth, Landsdowne Street, Mookie Betts, Rays, Red Sox Team Store, Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, Ted Williams, Yawkee Way

eli-fenwayscoreboard

This trip to Boston and Fenway Park with my seven year old grandson Eli was not my idea.

You may not believe that, but you can check with his parents (my daughter and son-in-law), and they will confirm that Eli raised the idea with them, asking, “When is GrandPapa going to take me to see Fenway Park?”

It is true that I had introducedimg_0025 him to baseball with a trip to see the Washington Nationals when he was seven months old. And it’s true I talk endlessly about the Red Sox around him, and we did complete a 500 (or was it 1,000 ?) piece jigsaw puzzle of Fenway Park.

But it’s also true he has become a Nats’ fan first, and the Sox are only his second favorite team.

I don’t care about that. I just love having him sit in my lap and talking nonstop to him at any game about what we’re seeing.

And tradition’s important in my life and in our family. So, of course, I needed to take him to Boston.

Background: At least 60 years ago, probably closer to 65 years, my grandfather took me to Fenway Park and introduced me to that temple and to what became my obsession with the Sox. In fact, the best week of every year for me was when school let out in June in Florida where I lived at the time, I’d go to Boston for a week prior to going to camp in New England. Pappy would take me to Fenway for batting practice before the game. He had wonderful seats a few rows behind the Sox dugout. And as I ‘remember’ it, sometimes players would say to him, “Pops, where were you last night? You weren’t here.” That’s pretty heady stuff for a 7-10 year old, especially when it was likes of Ted Williams, Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, Billy Goodman, Jimmy Piersall, etc. who would be talking to my grandfather.

(Aside 1: My sister recently reminded me that on one of those early trips I held a ball out to Ted Williams when I was at Fenway with Pappy, and the Splendid Splinter refused to sign it. Somehow, I got over that disappointment and have admired Williams’ ability to hit a baseball all my life.)

(Aside 2: I had good practice for the trip with Eli. Ask either of my daughters, who attended many games with me in Boston, some even voluntarily. And if you haven’t  read this email that my daughter Beth/Elizabeth wrote the night the Sox won the World Series in 2004, stop now and check it out.)

elidcThus, with no reluctance and a good deal of advanced planning, Eli spent the night with us last Monday so we could catch an early flight to Boston on Tuesday. I had arranged a room at the Commonwealth Hotel, which has recently added rooms overlooking the back of Fenway and the Green Monster. Additionally, I got seats for two games, one directly behind home plate, just below the press box, and those tickets came with access to the field for batting practice and time up in the Green Monsters seats. For the second game, I got seats as close to where Pappy had his seats 65 years ago behind the Sox dugout.

(Aside 3: When I told Eli we were going to sit where my grandfather had taken me for my first trip to Fenway and now I was taking him to the very same place, he said, without prompting, “And I’ll take my grandson there too.”)

Tuesday didn’t turn out quite the way I had envisioned it, though it started off well enough. Eli was eli-hoteldelighted with the big picture window overlooking Fenway, loved jumping endlessly from one of the double beds to the other in that room, and enjoyed lobster for lunch. I took him to my favorite store in the world, the enormous Red Sox Team Store across the street from the ballpark on Yawkey Way. Despite telling him we wouldn’t buy anything until we had walked through the entire store, he began pointing out things he knew he wanted within 30 seconds of entering this overwhelming collection of must have Sox paraphernalia.

But then things began to diverge from my carefully planned agenda. About 4:30 PM we were walking to where we were supposed to gather for our pregame Fenway tour. I stopped to ask directions, and, unbeknownst to me, Eli kept walking. When I turned around, he wasn’t there. Thirty seconds later (it seemed much longer at the time) I found him being comforted by two street program sellers. Eli and I were both relieved to have found each other. (Don’t tell his parents about this part of our trip please.)

Anyway, back together, Eli and I met our tour leader, and he took us up to the viewing section on top of the Green Monster. Eli had his glove, but the closest batting practice ‘home run’ was one section away. He was disappointed not to have gotten a ball. When an usher pointed out that one of the ‘home run’ balls had gone over his head had broken a windshield in a parked car across Landsdowne Street, Eli forgot about his disappointment and kept talking about the broken windshield and how far the ball had gone.

Next, we went onto the field and were able to stand just behind the batting cage. We had brought a number of items we hoped we could get signed by David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Mookie Betts and any other Sox players we saw. Unfortunately, there were no Sox players anywhere to be seen. It was the Tampa Bay players who were taking batting practice as the Sox had completed their batting practice already and were in their clubhouse. No signatures for us, and no chance to meet David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, or Mookie Betts.

bricksBefore the game actually began, I took him to the patio inside Gate B where there were bricks ‘inscribed’ by fans who donated money for a resurfacing of the patio and to support a charity. It took a few minutes, but I found the two bricks I had purchased, one saying “Thanks Pappy, Love Richard” and a second one saying, “Beth, Keep the Flame Alive, Love Papa.” I don’t think Eli was particularly impressed as he was hungry and ready for the game to start.

Finally the game. Great seats, directly behind the catcher and high enough that we had a ‘bird’s eye’ view and could see if the umpire was right or wrong in calling balls and strikes. First inning Tampa Bay got a run. The Sox later tied it and went ahead, only to see Rays get two runs and tie it up. I had told him there would be a message on the scoreboard with his name after the fifth inning. But that time came and went, and we didn’t see any message. In the eighth inning, just seconds after I mentioned to Eli that Tampa Bay’s best player was coming to bat, Evan Longoria hit a ball 434 feet over the Green Monster and out of the park to put Tampa Bay ahead by one run. Dustin Pedroia, Mookie Betts, and David Ortiz couldn’t get the run back, and Eli’s first game at Fenway was over, a 4-3 loss.

(Aside 4: I’ve chosen not to burden Eli with the Red Sox pessimism and realities with which I grew up — 48 years of never winning the World Series and the fact that my grandfather never saw them win a WS at all. Yes, the Sox finally won the WS in 2004 after 86 years of not doing so and went on to win two more WS within the decade. Nevertheless, Red Sox fans, myself included, have yet to overcome the pessimism and fatalism that those 86 years instilled.)

The next day I drove Eli to see where I had lived on Beacon Street when I was born, just a stone’s throw from Fenway and to see where my father had lived in Brookline when he was Eli’s age. We also saw where his mother had lived after college, amazingly, just across the street from where my father, her grandfather, his great grandfather had lived. We went back to the Sox store, our third trip, and then headed to an afternoon game where we had seats near where my grandfather had had his season tickets. We were three rows off the field and just behind where the Sox players waited ‘on deck’ to bat. Eli seemed pretty tired (he had stayed up almost to midnight the previous day), and when the Rays again scored a run in the first inning and two in the second, he said something like, “Here we go again.”

He revived when David Ortiz, from the on deck ‘circle’, picked up a foul ball, looked into the stands, spotted Eli, and flipped the ball to him over the screen. Unfortunately, a guy just in front of us grabbed the ball and gave it to some other kid. As the game went on, the Rays went ahead 4-1, and Eli had been unable to get a used ball, despite everyone around us trying to help. I told him not to give up, and shortly thereafter, the ball boy flipped ball over the screen to him, and with his glove on his left hand and sitting on my shoulders, he caught it.

Heaven.

eli-fingerWe probably could have come home then, but now Eli was lit up. The Sox loaded the bases, and Hanley Ramirez hit one over the Green Monster, making the score 5-4 Sox. Then ‘we’ got another run, but the Rays tied the game, 6-6. I saw a second loss coming, but not Eli. He was rewarded for his optimism and hope as the Sox scored two runs in the eighth and held firm in the 9th inning.

Eli had his ‘caught’ baseball, seen a Sox grand slam, and had his first Fenway victory. The loss from game one was forgotten, as was his not getting autographs or seeing his name on the scoreboard. (We later learned, thanks to the very helpful Reservations Manager at the hotel, Evan Somma, the message had indeed been posted, just not on the main scoreboard. See the picture at the top of this post). On the way out, I challenged Eli to show me where the two ‘family’ bricks were, and he led me right to them.

At dinner, he told me his five favorite things over the two days: 1) seeing his first game in Fenway, 2) catching a ball, 3) spending time with grandpapa, 4) seeing a grand slam over the Green Monster, and 5) seeing Fenway Park. (Sure I loved number three, but actually I loved them all!)

Assuming Eli keeps his word and takes his children and grandchildren to Fenway, that will make for seven generations and well over 100 years of Sox support in our one small family.

How’s that for keeping the flame alive?

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Are Strike Outs Overated?

29 Friday Apr 2016

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Boston Red Sox, Hitting, Joe Posnanski, Pitching, Sox, Strikeouts

Strike out

What really matters in determining how well a baseball team is performing?

Isn’t pitching supposed to trump (excuse me) hitting?

Didn’t the Sox spend gazillions of dollars to beef up their starting pitching and their relief pitching?

And aren’t strikeouts important?

So it’s only 22 games into the 162 game season, but a few things pop out if you follow the Sox:

  1. Their record is 12-10 which has them in second place in the AL East, 1.5 games behind the surprising Orioles.
  2. They are next to last in ERA (4.43), giving up 103 runs (98 earned), only Houston is worse in these pitching categories.
  3. They have struck out the most hitters in the AL, 223, but have also given up the most walks, 88.
  4. They only have six saves.

However,

  1. They have the highest hitting average in their league (.278), the most hits (218), the most doubles (63), the most triples (7), and the most RBIs (107).
  2. Most important in this area is they lead the league in runs with 114, 18 more than the second place Tigers and 19 more than the Orioles.
  3. So maybe their record of fewest home runs so far, 17 vs the Orioles 33, isn’t hurting their run scoring.

Plus,

  1. Their fielding has been pretty good as they are near the top of the league with a FPCT of .987 and only 10 errors.
  2. Their record in stealing bases tops the league, 20 (out of 22 attempts), and they’ve thrown out six of nine stolen base attempts.

It sure seems that hitting is trumping pitching, at least so far as the Red Sox are concerned in the early going of this season.

Actually, the most interesting thing about the season so far for me is something that Joe Posnanski, one of my favorite sports’ writers has highlighted — teams are striking out almost one out of every four times they are at the plate, the highest rate in the history of baseball, and, he writes, that’s not a bad thing.

Teams seem to believe, he says, “Hit the long ball. Steal bases at a high percentage. Draw walks. That’s still the winning formula.”

Strike outs overrated?

See Posnanski’s article Teams Are Striking Out More and That’s Not a Bad Thing.

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