YFSF

Good News

Alex Rodriguez' knee-mending in Dusseldorf did not involve any banned substances. What ticks me off is that the Germans knew this three years ago but he's only now getting it fixed, even though the only downside is that his trick knee won't tell him if there's a rain a-comin' anymore. That and the concern that every time he has to leg out a single he might run straight into Poland.

The Long Short Goodbye

Woke up this morning and found that Theo left a 1,600 word Dear John on the fridge.

Hey guys I'm leaving and just so you know I know September was all my fault and everyone else's fault too except yours because you are the best fans ever but you should stop being so hard on me and the guys and me and 12-year-old me loves the Red Sox and everyone should remember that the Sox before September and right now and FutureSox are still totally awesome and I'm sorry I left the house a mess but it really isn't and Ben is a super dude and he and some other guy will be great roommates and maybe they will even get along with Larry and we're sorry for whatever we did or didn't do that pissed you off and I won't be here but we have a plan and I promise it won't happen again unless it does and I'll see you in June and maybe in October so anyway I love you bye bye now.

He kept his key.

(Questionable) Analogy of the Day?

Derek Jeter:Brian Cashman :: Nomar Garciaparra:Theo Epstein?

Time will tell...

Who's That Driver?

Thought of the Day

If it keeps raining, we'll have a playoff spot clinched in no time!

Awkward

From this point forward, there is a direct relationship between the number of Derek Jeter fist pumps makes in the next week and a half and the happiness of SF (to choose just one Sox fan at random). It turns out the schedule-makers were geniuses this season.

Dear Tim, Redux

We're sorry about our earlier mean-spirited post. We really hope the Sox hold on and get you your 200th. You seem like a nice man.

Then, maybe, could you consider retirement as at least a possibility?

Thanks.

Red (Sox) Scare

Alarming. That's the first word that comes to mind after reading the reports out of our nation's capital:

And if there were that many tens of thousands of local Red Sox fans just thirsting for some Red Sox action in D.C., it stands to reason that someone would eventually find a way to tap into that market, even in summers when the Red Sox don’t visit the area.

And thus, welcome to the first day of the first year of Red Sox Camp — the official summer camps of the Boston Red Sox — in, yes, Bethesda. It’s believed to be the first team-branded MLB camp outside of a team’s home market. The camp was open for up to 125 kids ages 5-13; it sold out. In, yes, Bethesda.

This insiduous plan must be stopped dead in its tracks. But let's not pretend that MLB, on its own, is up to the job. The Yanks must lead the way. So I say, anywhere a Sox camp is built, 10 Yankees camps should be set up surrounding it! We're in a battle for hearts and minds. We cannot afford to  lose lest anarchy rule the day.

Sunday Thought

Baseball fans of all colors: saying, repeatedly, that "we aren't going to whine about all of our debilitating injuries or use them as an excuse" is just a passive-aggressive way of whining about injuries. Please, feel free to complain. They hurt, literally! Injuries, in our mind, are a perfectly reasonable explanation for a team's difficulties. They suck for us as fans and crimp chances, and if they come in spates that is even worse. When an injury happens it means that a guy is being replaced by a guy that a team didn't want to play ahead of the guy who was playing.

So we don't really begrudge people (YF or SF alike) complaining about the bad luck of injuries or their effect. Bragging that you aren't going to complain is silly. And, at heart, just another way of complaining.

Can't Stanza: The Dice-K Tommy John Surgery Haiku Contest

Four and a half years ago YF (where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?) put up one of the great posts of all time here at YFSF, the original haiku contest to memorialize the imminent arrivals of Daisuke Matsuzaka and Kei Igawa. It has been requested, in the wake of the ignominious announcement that the Sox' Japanese pitcher will have Tommy John surgery, that we have a similar literary competition. Seeing as how much fun that one was, we say why not. Put your haiku in the comments. Winner, to be determined by yours truly (who said the internet was a democracy?), gets a real, live gyroball.

We'll start it out after the jump.