Which do you think got the most votes for the best Stove League prediction:

* #2 – Pujols to the Angels

or

* #33 – Sox lose their captain and don’t sign Varitek

Continue reading »

Thanx to the sharp eye of blogger Jere Smith (A Red Sox Fan from Pinstripe Territory) and an email he sent the other day, I learned the Red Sox have seen the error of their ways (Click Here) and are making corrections, at least the ones having to do with the stadium tour.

For those of you who read Go Sox regularly, you no doubt remember (Jere did!) I complained last year that the Sox tour of Fenway was pretty poor (Click Here).

Well, I can’t claim credit for the following, tho I’m tempted, but in a recent press release, the Sox said:

*The ballpark tours will be revamped to provide a more rich and rewarding experience for every fan who visits.

*Tours will be more interactive and historical enabling fans to enjoy a more complete Fenway Park experience.

*There will be 64 plaques, 26 displays of historical items from “The Nation‟s Archive” and 10 historical markers throughout the ballpark totaling 100 items, up from about 46 currently in the park.

Let me and others know if you take the tour and what you think. I hope to do so in June and take Jere with me.

For those of you who have been around a while, the columnist/humorist Art Buchwald every year use to publish his explanation to the French of our Thanksgiving (le Jour de Merci Donnant). For some reason, I never tired of rereading it.

So taking his idea of repeating something that is (arguably) of interest and value, I am beginning an annual repeat of a column and a link I posted two years ago. The idea to do so came about after I was chatting with a younger sports fan who knows more about baseball than I do, probably because he plays fantasy baseball. But he didn’t know much about Tom Boswell, the author of the article that has changed the way I look at baseball.

And when this young chap read the article, I think it may have also changed how he will now watch baseball.

Anyway, here it is for 2012:

Baseball’s Open Secret, Hidden Key

My good cousin’s son turned me on to Joe Podnanski, the writer from Sports Illustrated (SI.com) who also has his own blog, and I’ve been following him for at least six months now. He usually writes longish articles, with lots of details, etc. Some are worth your time, some not.

Podnanski has one this morning about the Designated Hitter, and I think he puts to rest all the arguments about that 40 year old ‘innovation’ to baseball.

Check it out Here.

And add your Comment in the section on this site if you have something to add.

or

Who’s the best?

Sammy White?

Carlton Fisk?

Jason Varitek?

Continue reading »

Here they are — the six 2012 MillersTime Contests.

It may be a bit early for some of you to focus on the best seven months of the year, but remember, in case of a tie on any contest, the individual who submitted his/her prediction first will be the winner. Also, be sure you include your Tie-Breaker predictions as some of the contests last year were decided by the Tie-Breakers.

Continue reading »

So with Spring Training underway, I declare the end of the 2011/12 MillersTime Stove League contest.

We have six predictions that came true (five if you count the one that two of you predicted): #2, 7, 10, 31, 32, 33.

We need seven of you to vote for which prediction you think is best. Which one should be declared the winner?

Continue reading »

If you don’t live in NYC or the Northeast and/or if you don’t follow pro basketball (and I couldn’t blame you if you didn’t), you might not know the name Jeremy Lin.

Whether he’ll be a flash in the pan or whether he’ll prove to be the phenom he has been for the last six Knick’s games, here’s a terrific article by someone who is well known (primarily?) for his work in the tech world.

Sports and good writing often go together:

Continue reading »

Feb. 11.

Truck Day.

That not so inconsequential time when all the Red Sox Spring Training gear is loaded up at Fenway and leaves for Fort Myers.

Ah, I can feel the juices begin to flow again.

For those of you for whom these major events matter, here’s a list of significant baseball dates for 2012:

Continue reading »

We’re getting close to ‘pitchers and catchers’ and the end of the Stove League.

So how did the 30 major league teams do (there are a few deals left to be made)?

In case you haven’t been paying attention, or have only been paying attention to your own team, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe gives a one paragraph summary of what each team did over the winter.

For What They’re Worth, the Winter Standings

After reading the recent MillersTime post of Sally Jenkins’ articles on Joe Paterno, friend and Penn State grad David Stang wrote a letter to Sally.

No reply from Sally, but if you have one or thoughts about what Dave wrote, please feel free to add your thoughts in the Comments’ section.

David’s letter:

Continue reading »

The Yankee I always feared the most made it official yesterday as he announced his retirement.

It wasn’t only that bloop single off Pedro in the 2003 that made me ‘hate’ him, tho that is still one of the more painful examples of what he could do to the Sox.

Jorge didn’t have as much talent as Derek, Mo, or ______ (put in any one you choose). You always (almost) knew what Mo would do to you in the 9th. And you knew that Jeter would always get on base when he needed to. You didn’t know how Jorge would beat you, but too often he did something to hurt you.

He had grit. Had he been on the Sox, he would have been one of the “Dirt Dogs.”

I can’t think of any better compliment to make about a ball player.

If you didn’t see his retirement announcement in its entirety yesterday, check it out below.

Tek, are you are there?

WaPo photo

Virtually every news source has articles about the death of Joe Paterno and opinion pieces about his legacy, about how he will be remembered, and, particularly, about how his handling of the Sandusky outrage has or has not affected how he will be judged.

Paterno only gave one reporter, Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post, an interview. He spoke to her from his house and his bedroom over a two-day period just before he died.

If you want to see what Paterno himself said, the two Jenkins’ articles (one came out just before he died and then second one came out today) are linked to below.”

If you only have time for one of them, perhaps read the one that was published today.

Jan. 23rd article: After a life of wins and losses, others will judge Paterno’s legacy.

Jan. 14th article: Joe Paterno’s last interview.

MillersTime/GoSox contest contributors are not doing so well so far.

Of the 35 predictions of what would take place during the Hot Stove league, 19 have already proven not to be true, 11 have yet to be decided, and only five have come true.

Here’s where we are so far:

Continue reading »