Friday Links: New York’s 9th inning rally sinks Sox

With the series tied at two games a piece, the Red Sox and Yankees played the rubber match of the…

9/26: The game they needed

Boston Red Sox (89-70) @ Baltimore Orioles (67-92) Josh Beckett (13-6, 2.70) @ Tommy Hunter (4-4, 4.86) 7:05 PM EDT…

9/21: Fenway finale?

Baltimore Orioles (64-90) @ Boston Red Sox (88-67) Tommy Hunter (3-3, 5.31) @ Josh Beckett (13-5, 2.50) 7:10 PM EDT |…

7/11: Home Run Derby

AL @ NL 8:00PM EDT | Chase Field (Phoenix, AZ) TV: ESPN RADIO: ESPN Radio GAME NOTES It’s not the…

Numbers

For whatever reason, I've been having a large number of conversations about retired numbers lately. From students trying to get me on a tangent by asking who they all are to discussions about whether Pedro Martinez' return on Opening Day was a play to get 45 on the facade, the frequency of the topic has gotten me thinking about what the next number retired would be. So, instead of the usual recriminations or wishful thoughts on the 2010 campaign, I wanted to run down the top 5 candidates in order of what I think is their likelihood of retirement. I don't expect everyone to agree, but it should spark some interesting conversation.

The current list stands at 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 14, and 27 (along with Jackie Robinson's 42). Bobby Doerr, Joe Cronin, Johnny Pesky, Carl Yastrzemski, Ted Williams, Jim Rice and Carlton Fisk -- as good a rundown of Red Sox greats as you can get. Hall of Famers all, aside from Pesky, who represents a special case. The restrictions on retirement have been eased by current ownership, and the rules are now a bit fuzzy; it used to be that a player had to begin and finish a Hall of Fame career with the Sox. That seems to no longer be the case, despite a few acrobatic moves to get Fisk there. So, with that in mind, here is my list of five, along with their numbers, chances and qualifications.

Rice a hero in a big way (via ESPN)

Absolutely worth a watch:

American League Central Preview.

Victor Martinez should get back on track upon returning from injury. Martinez may not be a great catcher, but he actually has value outside of the batters box, unlike Hafner. I expect good things out of Martinez this season, maybe not great things, but good. Shoppach will handle some of the duties behind the plate as well, which will help Victor stay rested. If Carlos Santana can make his way up to the big leagues this season, Victor could basically stay at first, and Shoppach could be moved for another piece, since they will need something, somewhere, eventually...

The battle between what we see visually and numerically

JD Drew is a lifetime .284 hitter. If Drew only "drew" 30 walks a season then his offensive contributions would diminish greatly. What he "lacks" in batting average, Drew more than makes up for in reaching base via the walk...and of course he hits for power too.

But JD Drew has been an on base machine over his career. People's beliefs on how walks impact the game of baseball may vary. But can anyone argue that a .392 career on base percentage, isn't really, really good? That is how often Drew has reached base in his career.

2009 Hall of Fame: Rice, Rickey make the cut!

Update: Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice have both received the amount of votes needed to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Congrats to both former BoSox!

The 2009 Hall of Fame announced the results of its voting today at 1:30pm. Use this post to speculate on the voting leading up to its announcement, and commenting on the results from that point out. The 23 players on this year's ballot are the lowest number ever, with only 13 players returning from last year's ballot, also a record low. As you are probably aware, it is the last year on the ballot for Jim Rice to be elected from the Baseball Writers Association of America. The induction ceremonies will be on July 26th, 2009 in Cooperstown, NY.

We all know about Jim Rice, but how many of the 23 candidates for the 2009 Hall of Fame class spent part of their careers with the Boston organization? The answer might surprise you. Check the names and career statistics after the jump!

Ryne’s Ramblings: Special Saturday Edition

Check out Ryne's Ramblings, a collection of random thoughts put together while killing time before killing deer. From Jim Rice to Jennifer Aniston, get the 411 on current events in the Red Sox Nation. And I promise, I even kept the political propaganda to a minimum this time!