The Red Sox have exercised Tim Wakefield's $4 million dollar perpetual team option for the 2009 season. Next year will mark Wakefield's 15th season with the team.
Over that time Wake has knuckled his way to 164 wins in a Red Sox uniform, third only to Roger Clemens and Cy Young (192). On the flip side, he's given up 151 more home runs than any other Red Sox pitcher with 345 to Roger's 194.
It has never been more difficult to get a ticket to professional sports than it is in Boston as of Halloween day, 2008.
In short, unlike virtually every other major city in the US, Boston is the only place where you can't walk up to the door of a professional event and purchase tickets for anything less than $50+.
With the legislature dragging its feet in getting taxpayers to give hundreds of millions to an unpopular team (good luck with that one, guys), and Dolphin Stadium being at best a mediocre home to any sport, the Marlins may not be long for Florida.
For Philadelphia Phillies fans, it was the best of times, unless you are Ted Passon, who's "best of times" turned into a "worst of times" at the flip of a switch, or in this case...car.
"Hey Philly, remember when we just won the world series for the first time in 28 years? That was great! Then my car got flipped over and that wasn't great."
Clay Buchholz, currently playing for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League, pitched five innings of one run ball yesterday evening against the Mesa Solar Sox. Buchholz struck out three and walked two, dropping his ERA to 2.60 over his four starts for Scottsdale.
Buchholz will only be allowed to pitch 25 innings for the team, and after his latest start he is at 17.1 IP so it is likely he will only have two more starts in Arizona. The 24 year old has 12 strikeouts against only five walks so far. Opponents are batting .210 against Buchholz.
Just like 6.1% of all Americans during the economy's recession, Manny Ramirez is currently unemployed and looking for work. Worse yet for the guy, there is a good chance the new administration is going to tax the bejesus out of him to spread the wealth around. Talk about kicking a guy while he's down, right?
Standing in line at the soup kitchen, everyone talks about their dreams and aspirations for gainful employment. Manny the Ballplayer knows where he'd like to end up, too. According to a source in the New York Post, Ramirez wants to sign with the New York Yankees and have 19 chances a year to "punish" the Red Sox.
Paul and Tim look back on the ALCS and the 2008 Season, then look forward to the 2009 Red Sox. Who should the Red Sox target this offseason, who should they resign?
To recap, Rodriguez went to the bar to watch his favorite team play, they lost, he shot someone, then spent the next four years of his life in jail while the team, whose victory and alcohol fueled his murderous rage, wins two World Series titles.
There are so many reasons to love the sport of baseball. One of the top reasons for this writer is that even after 100 years of playing the nation's pastime, there is still a good chance that every year you'll see something that has never happened before. The 2008 World Series is a great example of that; not because of the Rays turnaround, or the Phillies dominance thus far, but because of the weather.
First and foremost, before this spreads any worse, please refrain from the annoying habit of adding the word "gate" to anything controversial. I would rather exchange text messages with Kwame Kilpatrick then look back 20 years from now and hear about the Weathergate World Series.
Some of the biggest signings that the Boston Red Sox make this offseason might not have anything to do with new faces set to make a splash in Boston. The biggest signings to happen, or "not" to happen, may be with some more familiar faces (and no, this isn't a sign Derek Lowe and take a flyer on Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling post).
I'll throw out a few names for you; Jason Bay, Dustin Pedroia, Jonathan Papelbon, Kevin Youkilis, Jon Lester.
While each of these players is currently "under team control" for next season and in most cases beyond, each could pen to paper on a new contract this offseason. At the same time, each enters their respective negotiations with their teams under slightly different circumstances.
In fan voting, Kevin Youkilis was tabbed the AL's best hitter, an honor formerly bestowed on such luminaries like Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez.
The official title of the award is the Hank Aaron award, and it comes on the heels of Youk's MVP-caliber (career?) season, a season in which he led the AL in RBI per at-bats (one for each 4.7).
Is Kevin Youkilis another Edgar Martinez? Or will he become another Nomar Garciaparra? Is he destined to flame out quickly or will he enjoy another decade of production?