Last Man Standing

You’ve probably heard it mentioned plenty of times by now, but the Red Sox will enter the 2013 season with only one member of the 2004 championship team left on the roster – David Ortiz. I wrote last week about the changing times for the Red Sox organization, but the...

A Song for the Season

Alfredo Aceves — Crazy (Gnarls Barkley) As a general rule of thumb, anyone who chooses their number as a tribute to Dennis Rodman has a screw, or two, lose. Aceves is certainly not an exception. Andrew Bailey — Everybody Hurts (REM) Every player gets hurt...

…In Which the 2004 World Series Was Won By Intangibles, Cafardo Style!

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Except for the Alfredo Aceves blip, the Red Sox have had a pretty uneventful spring training so far. There seems to be harmony in the clubhouse with John Farrell at the head of things. The players seem to be happy and good natured. All we have to...

A Proud Member Since 1986

It’s the most polarizing pronoun in the sports world: We. Using this will cause you to frequently encounter snarky replies like “Oh were you on the field?” (No, genius, that stuff gets you fined and jailed these days.) Or “what number do you wear?” (Trot Nixon’s #7,...

In Search of a Cure for My Raging Case of Lackey Optimism

I can pinpoint exactly when it all began. It started with Joe Reilly’s January 5th column right here on Fire Brand. Soon enough, I started to show symptoms of a developing case of Lackey Optimism. The more I thought about the possibilities, the more I started to see...

Remembering Nomar

On July 1, 2004, after an instant classic 13-inning game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, Nomar Garciaparra’s career in a Boston Red Sox uniform effectively came to an end. In 1996, 22-year-old Nomar Garciaparra made his Major League debut against...