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For All the Theoretical Marbles: Sox Spring Gamer I

The Mayor's Cup is on!

After a many-year drought that left many thinking the Sox were cursed, Boston has finally begun winning championships with regularity.

Obviously, we're talking about the Mayor's Cup. The quest for a repeat begins now.

Or an hour ago. It's the top of the third, none out, and Coco Crisp on first. Comment away!

BC, You've Been Beckettized

"It doesn't matter if you're playing in a media game or a college team or facing big league hitters. I actually told somebody that today. They told me, 'You're going to at least let somebody hit it.'

"No, I'm not going to let him hit it. I'm out there trying to do my job and my job right now is to get in shape for the season. If I'm out there facing a college team and I'm out there messing around or something, I might take that into another game.

"That's not what I'm trying to do."

Watch out, AL East. Josh Beckett shows no mercy to punk college kids. You think he's going to take it easy on you?

Meet the Family

It’s hard to know exactly who’s in charge. Not even the team’s 20-odd limited partners, who together own a little under half of the team, seem clear about the new distribution of power. “I think there’s some constructive ambiguity in terms of how things have been situated,” one of them told me. “The attitude seems to be, Let’s see how things work out before making any final judgments."

Jonathan Mahler's extraordinary (and long—goodness!) New York Times feature on the Steinbrenner family, Oedipus Bronx, is a must read; I plan to be finished by the home opener. Though Hal Steinbrenner recently commented in GQ about a clear hierarchy in the organinzation, the paragraph above, to say nothing of appearances, suggests otherwise.

The Gamer That Didn't Matter

When I was a kid, the Red Sox-BC spring training game was the calling card of spring.

It was a night game, it was on WSBK (in the days when NESN was not widely available), and even though the starters were all gone by the third inning, it was baseball, dammit, and we were happy for the opportunity to watch it -- particularly because it was usually still too cold and snowy to toss the ball around outside just yet.

Nowadays, things have changed. The game's during the day, it's probably on NESN, which I don't get, and even if I did, it would probably be blacked out because MLB apparently hates when fans get the opportunity to actually watch baseball.

One thing hasn't changed, though. The Red Sox still know how to crush college kids. Unfair? Yes. Fun? Heck, yes. Like they say, it's only hazing if someone gets hurt. Ok, they don't say that, and a BC player has in fact gotten hurt, so never mind. The Sox lead 8-0 in the third.

If the game is viewable, comment on it here. If it's not, comment here anyway.

Thanks But No Thanks

Our good friend and occasional correspondent Emma Span has a fine piece up on Slate today on the sophisticated fan's obsession with winning the right way, and how this translated into a certain ambivalance around these parts regarding the acquisition of Johan Santana. Worth a read, but what happened to our shout out? (We kid!!!)

Making Plans for 2016?

Clay Vs. Joba

Baseball America released their first installment of "Split Decisions" today.  This is where their writers (Editors in chief Will Lingo and John Manuel, executive editor Jim Callis and national writer Chris Kline) get a chance to explain why they chose player A over player B when putting together their top 100 prospects for 2008.  Today they have Clay Buchholz up against Joba Chamberlain.

*Note: Due to the fact that this content is subscriber only, I am only giving you a portion of their comments.

      

"One or Two Bad Apples"

"I'm impressed by the attitude that our guys have right now about it.  The research that we did on the Japan trip from the teams that have gone previously is one or two bad apples can spoil the lot.  Kevin Brown and Mike Mussina spent the whole time bitching about it.  By the time the Yankees team got back from the trip they were all using it as a crutch" said Theo Epstein last Friday on WEEI's Dennis and Callahan Show.  Epstein's comment was made in response to a question about the Red Sox upcoming trip to Japan.

Mussina responded with "Yeah, we used it as an excuse for winning the division."

David Ortiz Derek Jeter won't need to worry about any motivational speeches this season. The Steinbrenners are Theo is taking care of that all by themselves himself.

Really Big P___y

I thought the Sox signed a former Cy Young winner, not Vincent Pastore.

A Little too Long

An unsympathetic piece by Bill James on Craig Biggio, an erstwhile favorite, is excerpted on Slate, and worth a read. Biggio, the ultimate overachiever, somehow managed to turn off James by extending his career. I wish James had shown a bit more empathy for Biggio; it would have made for a better piece. But it's honest, no question.