Some scattered thoughts after time spent away from a computer...
So after several days away from a computer, there should be a lot for me to write about, right? Well, there's not as much as there could have been, actually, but here goes:
I spent two days taking my roommate around in New York. During that time, I saw more Sox fans openly displaying their team colors than I had ever seen in the city in my entire life combined. This made me very happy. (On both days, I literally wore a pair of red socks when I went around - I gloated more subtly.)
And now for a new segment, in which you can get a glimpse into my warped mind:
Things I Think About During the Off-Season
~ When he was at Mississippi State, Jonathan Papelbon was majoring in educational psychology. Can you imagine our closer as a guidance counselor? (
hanachan01 and I literally discussed this when I was home for the weekend.)
~ You know what's a good idea? Watching the Patriots games when they're playing at home to see the overhead shots of Boston just in case they show Fenway. Incidentally, I watched last night, and they did show Fenway - then cut to a shot of Curt Schilling at the game. I reached out towards my television screen and yelled, "Curt, I miss you!"
~ USC beat ASU on Thanksgiving. I doubt Pedroia is happy.
~ The Nintendo Wii is my best friend because it lets me try to pitch. Awesome.
~ My idea of Spring Break isn't getting drunk and having sex with someone I don't know - rather, it's possibly going to Spring Training games someday. I need to plan this trip one year.
~ I need to convince my mother to go with me to Rhode Island so I can do some Lowrie-stalking prospect-watching.
~ Stalking Jed Lowrie is totally an awesome idea.
~ I just have to wait until February 14th. That's it. Then baseball comes back and I am reborn. I'll tie myself over with the boys from Slumberwood College (who you can tie yourselves over with, too - check them out at
slumberwood! Okay, shameless plug there. I'm sorry).
In other news, the Cubs have signed Kerry Wood to a one-year deal. I know the Sox were a bit interested, but it looks like Wood will be staying in Chicago for the time being. I also heard that the Sox offered Timlin a one-year deal, but I haven't heard anything else on that yet. Santana is interesting, but I'm not into the idea of shipping away Lester, Buchholz and Ellsbury just to get one pitcher. Those three are too talented and integral to our staff already (especially Jacoby).
On an unrelated note, can anyone figure out what's going on with college football this season? I don't watch much football, but I do know that there have been far too many upsets this season for this to be normal. I'm starting to grow suspicious...
EDIT: Pedroia has announced that he'll be the Sox' Jimmy Fund Rally Against Cancer spokesman for 2008. Oh, how I'm looking forward to this...
EDIT 2: Roster update!
BOSTON RED SOX MAJOR LEAGUE ROSTER (37*)
PITCHERS (21): Josh Beckett, Craig Breslow, Clay Buchholz, Bryan Corey, Manny Delcarmen, Brendan Donnelly, Devern Hansack, Craig Hansen, Kyle Jackson, Jon Lester, Javier Lopez, Jay Marshall, Edgar Martinez, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Okajima, Jonathan Papelbon, David Pauley, Curt Schilling, Kyle Snyder, Julian Tavarez, Tim Wakefield.
CATCHERS (3): Dusty Brown, George Kottaras, Jason Varitek.
INFIELDERS (8*): Chris Carter, Alex Cora, Argenis Diaz, Mike Lowell*, Julio Lugo, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis.
OUTFIELDERS (5): Coco Crisp, J.D. Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brandon Moss, Manny Ramirez.
*Not officially on roster-agreed to terms today
Sure, some of them will be sent back down to Pawtucket at the beginning of the season, but here's what we've got for now.
And I forgot to post this earlier - I'm rereading my copy of Faithful because I'm on baseball withdrawal, and there was a throwaway line in the book that caught my eye: "Duquette, trading our top prospects yearly in his attempt to build an instant champion, stripped the farm system, and now our second baseman - like our closer - is a replacement player."
The irony is that when the Sox won their second World Series of the decade, the second baseman (Dustin Pedroia) and the closer (Jonathan Papelbon) were both products of the farm system. How quickly times change!
I spent two days taking my roommate around in New York. During that time, I saw more Sox fans openly displaying their team colors than I had ever seen in the city in my entire life combined. This made me very happy. (On both days, I literally wore a pair of red socks when I went around - I gloated more subtly.)
And now for a new segment, in which you can get a glimpse into my warped mind:
Things I Think About During the Off-Season
~ When he was at Mississippi State, Jonathan Papelbon was majoring in educational psychology. Can you imagine our closer as a guidance counselor? (
hanachan01 and I literally discussed this when I was home for the weekend.)
~ You know what's a good idea? Watching the Patriots games when they're playing at home to see the overhead shots of Boston just in case they show Fenway. Incidentally, I watched last night, and they did show Fenway - then cut to a shot of Curt Schilling at the game. I reached out towards my television screen and yelled, "Curt, I miss you!"
~ USC beat ASU on Thanksgiving. I doubt Pedroia is happy.
~ The Nintendo Wii is my best friend because it lets me try to pitch. Awesome.
~ My idea of Spring Break isn't getting drunk and having sex with someone I don't know - rather, it's possibly going to Spring Training games someday. I need to plan this trip one year.
~ I need to convince my mother to go with me to Rhode Island so I can do some Lowrie-stalking prospect-watching.
~ Stalking Jed Lowrie is totally an awesome idea.
~ I just have to wait until February 14th. That's it. Then baseball comes back and I am reborn. I'll tie myself over with the boys from Slumberwood College (who you can tie yourselves over with, too - check them out at
slumberwood! Okay, shameless plug there. I'm sorry).
In other news, the Cubs have signed Kerry Wood to a one-year deal. I know the Sox were a bit interested, but it looks like Wood will be staying in Chicago for the time being. I also heard that the Sox offered Timlin a one-year deal, but I haven't heard anything else on that yet. Santana is interesting, but I'm not into the idea of shipping away Lester, Buchholz and Ellsbury just to get one pitcher. Those three are too talented and integral to our staff already (especially Jacoby).
On an unrelated note, can anyone figure out what's going on with college football this season? I don't watch much football, but I do know that there have been far too many upsets this season for this to be normal. I'm starting to grow suspicious...
EDIT: Pedroia has announced that he'll be the Sox' Jimmy Fund Rally Against Cancer spokesman for 2008. Oh, how I'm looking forward to this...
EDIT 2: Roster update!
BOSTON RED SOX MAJOR LEAGUE ROSTER (37*)
PITCHERS (21): Josh Beckett, Craig Breslow, Clay Buchholz, Bryan Corey, Manny Delcarmen, Brendan Donnelly, Devern Hansack, Craig Hansen, Kyle Jackson, Jon Lester, Javier Lopez, Jay Marshall, Edgar Martinez, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Okajima, Jonathan Papelbon, David Pauley, Curt Schilling, Kyle Snyder, Julian Tavarez, Tim Wakefield.
CATCHERS (3): Dusty Brown, George Kottaras, Jason Varitek.
INFIELDERS (8*): Chris Carter, Alex Cora, Argenis Diaz, Mike Lowell*, Julio Lugo, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis.
OUTFIELDERS (5): Coco Crisp, J.D. Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brandon Moss, Manny Ramirez.
*Not officially on roster-agreed to terms today
Sure, some of them will be sent back down to Pawtucket at the beginning of the season, but here's what we've got for now.
And I forgot to post this earlier - I'm rereading my copy of Faithful because I'm on baseball withdrawal, and there was a throwaway line in the book that caught my eye: "Duquette, trading our top prospects yearly in his attempt to build an instant champion, stripped the farm system, and now our second baseman - like our closer - is a replacement player."
The irony is that when the Sox won their second World Series of the decade, the second baseman (Dustin Pedroia) and the closer (Jonathan Papelbon) were both products of the farm system. How quickly times change!