:: This Goes Without Saying...Boston, MA ::


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[::.. cast of characters ..::]


AL(al) n.
Narrator of highest note.

LORI(lohr-ee) n.
The girlfriend. Slightly bratty. Arachnophobe.

CHARLIE(chahr-lee) n.
A dieffenbachia plant spawn from the great Mother Charlie in Woods Hole, MA.



[::.. archive ..::]




:: Tuesday, January 31, 2006 ::


Not ONE mention of Coco Crisp joining the Sox's lineup in President Bush's State of the Union address! Not one!


:: posted by Al on 1/31/2006 10:07:00 PM ::


:: Saturday, January 28, 2006 ::


20 years since Challenger.

That is unbelievable.

20. YEARS.


:: posted by Al on 1/28/2006 10:53:00 AM ::



When I first heard about the Indians/Red Sox trade this morning I immediately thought of that song by Tom Petty:

"There's been a chaaaayaange...yeah there's been a change of heart."

After all the indecision and posturing by Cleveland, OF Coco Crisp is FINALLY heading to Boston.

The Red Sox have their center fielder in place. The Yankees can't be happy about this.

Along with Crisp, the Indians sent reliever David Riske and backup catcher Josh Bard to the Red Sox for reliever Guillermo Mota, third base prospect Andy Marte, catcher Kelly Shoppach, a player to be named later and cash.

I'm a little worried that the player to be named later is going to end up being one of our top young pitching prospects such as Manny Del Carmen. But I don't think the well-rested Theo Epstein will let that happen.

Now if can we get Theo & Co. to wrap up that Alex Gonzalez deal at shortstop I may be able to finally exhale (for the time being).


:: posted by Al on 1/28/2006 07:51:00 AM ::


:: Friday, January 20, 2006 ::


Theo's back with the Sox. (Not that he really ever left.)

Red Sox management says that Theo Epstein will rejoin the Red Sox baseball operations department in a full-time -- but otherwise unspecified -- position.

I wish things would chill out down there on Yawkey Way.

Between the Manny "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" saga and the "Theo - The Amazing Boomerang Executive" show, I long for the quiet days of solid off-season moves that brought peace and harmony to the team and their fans. (When were those days?)

So what does this mean for the new Red Sox co-GM's?

Will anyone believe that they truly have the power to make ANY baseball-related decisions?


:: posted by Al on 1/20/2006 08:53:00 AM ::


:: Wednesday, January 18, 2006 ::


Am I the only one who can't resist playing the Air Drums to "I'll Wait" by Van Halen ??


:: posted by Al on 1/18/2006 05:06:00 PM ::


:: Sunday, January 15, 2006 ::


All I remember was that yesterday, Saturday January 14th, it was 55 degrees and sunny. Life was good.


"WHAT did that guy on the TV just say????"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN TOM BRADY LOST A PLAYOFF GAME?"

"Somebody! Quick! Call up ESPN and tell them they are reporting inaccurate sports scores! How embarrassing for them! That's gonna be great stuff for the blooper reel!"

"I feel a little light-headed."

"Maybe I should sit down."

(I sit in a chair and stare at the wall. I don't blink for half an hour.)

Eventually, I come out of the trance. But you want to know the funny thing? Every time I try to remember the events of last night I get a mental ‘404 error’:

Sorry, that memory was not found. The memory your brain requested could not be found on our servers. We may have recently moved around, renamed, or deleted certain memories.


I glance out the window.

Today, it is 22 degrees and snowing.

Today, literally, is the beginning of my “Winter of Discontent”.


:: posted by Al on 1/15/2006 10:44:00 AM ::


:: Thursday, January 12, 2006 ::


If Jim Rice held a press conference today I think it would go something like this:

Jim Rice: OK, I'll take some questions now. You, in the front row.

Reporter #1: Do you think you'll ever get voted in to Cooperstown?

Jim Rice: @#$% you. Next question.

Reporter #2: Do you think the Baseball Writers' Association of America has it in for you?

Jim Rice: @#$% you. Next question.

Reporter #3: If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?

Jim Rice: @#$% you. Ok, that's all for today. Thanks for coming by.


:: posted by Al on 1/12/2006 08:53:00 AM ::


:: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 ::


I get into my car this morning. I put the key in the ignition and start the car. The Gap Band's "You Dropped a Bomb on Me" is blasting from the radio.

I unconsciously start singing along while backing the car out: "You dropped a bomb on me, baby, you dropped a bomb on......." - Just then I turn around to see my neighbor and her young daughter standing there.

Busted.

She smiles and holds up her daughter's arm and they both wave at me. I wave back.

What else could I do?

I promptly put the vehicle in gear and drove away.

Maybe they didn't see me.


:: posted by Al on 1/11/2006 01:57:00 PM ::


:: Tuesday, January 10, 2006 ::


NO! NOT AGAIN! 2006 WAS HIS YEAR!


Players needed 390 votes (on 75.0% of the ballots) to gain election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

Relief pitcher Bruce Sutter got 400 votes and was on 76.9% of the ballots, the lone member to get the required 75.0%.

Boston Red Sox slugger Jim Rice fell 53 votes short, finishing 2nd with 337 votes (64.8%), one ahead of reliever Goose Gossage (64.6%).

What is wrong with 183 members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America??!!

337 of them got it right!!

Why do the so-called "experts" keep screwing Jim Rice out of his rightful place among MLB's all-time best players in Cooperstown????

And Rice's chances for 2007 aren't looking too good.

Next year Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken Jr. and Mark McGwire are all eligible for the first time.

2006 was Rice's 12th opportunity to be elected and has three years remaining on the writers' ballot.


:: posted by Al on 1/10/2006 02:09:00 PM ::



Joe Thornton and the San Jose Sharks play in Boston tonight for the first time since the big trade.

Joe's gonna get a HUGE ovation from the crowd, and he deserevs every second of it.


:: posted by Al on 1/10/2006 11:34:00 AM ::



We'll find out today whether or not Jim Rice is going to Cooperstown.

My fingers are crossed.

Lori and I went to the new IKEA south of Boston yesterday. Wow! 50 cent hot dogs! Who knew???!!!


:: posted by Al on 1/10/2006 11:30:00 AM ::


:: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 ::


File this post under Lori Never Ceases to Amaze Me.

Yesterday evening I learned that Lori, my girlfriend, who I have been with for umpty-ump years, is one who is in possession of secret information I have been in pursuit of for the last 20+ years.

Lori knows how to solve the Rubik's Cube.

When she casually informed me of her immense secret powers she gave me a puzzled look and said something like,

"I can do it in like 2 minutes if you give me one."

(Lori pauses at watching my face go white and my jaw hitting the floor.)

"What? You can't do it?"

And for the briefest of seconds I saw the "oh-how-sweet,-my-Al's-a-retard" look in her eyes and head tilt combo that I've seen in the past. This quickly gave way to a smile and the down-right condescending remark:

"I think I figured it out in the 5th grade".

When I was a kid I spent countless hours, days, months, working on that damn thing. I think I knew ONE person who could solve the cube (without cheating). The best I could ever do was get 2 sides. And to me that was a minor miracle. It has always frustrated me. Ever since, this puzzle has been sort of a measuring stick I use to informally (and non-scientifically) gauge someone's intellect.

I never thought Lori was a dummy, we went through the same school system growing up and she had a rep as a smarty-pants. So when she went off to some smarty-pants college, it was not a shock.

The fact she ended up with me, however, is a shock.

She promises to school me someday on the ways of the magic Cube.


:: posted by Al on 1/04/2006 08:55:00 AM ::


:: Monday, January 02, 2006 ::


Once again, we have arrived at that time of year where I lay out the case as to why Jim Rice of the Red Sox should be voted into the MLB Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

2006 could be the year.

There are no new shoo-in first-time candidates, and the anti-steroids backlash should change how some voters look at his power numbers from back in those pre-steroid days of the 70's and early 80's.

Jim needs to be named on 381 of the 507 ballots to get the 75% needed for enshrinement. He was listed on 59.5% of the ballots last year.

Look at his stats: He retired in 1989 with a career .298 average, 382 homers, 2,452 hits, and 1,451 RBIs.

He was an eight time All-Star who played 16 seasons, all with the Boston Red Sox. He batted over .300 seven times, hit more than 20 homers 11 times (four times he hit 39 or more) and drove in 102 or more runs in eight seasons.

Jim Ed Rice won the AL MVP in 1978 and finished in the top five for MVP voting five other times. In his 1978 MVP season he had a.315 average, 46 homers and 139 RBIs. In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s he was one of the most feared hitters in the league.

It’s time for the Baseball HOF voters to do the right thing and send Jim Rice to Cooperstown where he belongs.


:: posted by Al on 1/02/2006 12:00:00 PM ::

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