Thanks again, Cliff Lee!

Posted on January 30, 2012 by OffTheMonster

With all of the starpower on its way to the American League for the upcoming season, I think it’s time to once again thank Cliff Lee for shunning the Yankees’ offer of more money to go to Philadelphia last offseason. With Albert Pujols heading to Anaheim, Prince Fielder going to Detroit, and Roy Oswalt talking to the Rangers, I’m happier than ever that Lee opted for the National League.

Thankfully, neither Pujols nor Fielder are in our division, so we’ll be facing the Angels just six times and the Tigers ten times during the regular season (in contrast, we’ll play the Yankees, Rays, and other divisional rivals eighteen times each).

Of course, it was especially sweet to finally see a high caliber player rejecting New York, just because their endless money tends to see them getting every player they want, but one year later there’s a different perspective – not having to face Lee and his Phils could be the difference between a playoff berth and a third straight year at home in October.

Given the pedigree of hitter now in the AL (and the fact that the DH rule means one more good hitter in the lineup of every non-interleague game), I’m sure Lee is even more content with his decision than he was a year ago.

Happy Birthday, Dustin Pedroia!

Posted on August 17, 2011 by OffTheMonster

As you all know, Dustin Pedroia is my favorite baseball player. In fact, he’s top ten favorite people, ever. Today just happens to be his twenty-eighth birthday, and so I thought, what better way to honor Pedey than by publishing a list of my favorite Pedroia-isms and videos [sorry the formatting is weird]:

“When you have a physique like this, when you’re shredded and everything, something might happen.”

“I’m probably a 3 looks wise, but my personality is a 12, so it takes me to about an 8.”

“To be able to say that i play for the Boston Red Sox is an honor in itself.”

“I want to be here. I want to play for the Red Sox and I don’t want to play for anybody else…We’re going to have an opportunity to win every single year. The fans are the best, the city embraces their team. So why not? It fits.”

“I always wanted to be a miniature badass.”

"Where has all the bitterness gone?"

Posted on August 7, 2011 by OffTheMonster

I’m watching Baseball Tonight on ESPN, and one of their commentators wondered what had happened to the days when every Red Sox-Yankees series was fraught with animosity, and not just in the stands. What happened to the brawls between Fiske and Munson, or Tek and A*Rod, or even Pedro and Don Zimmer?

Parity happened. In the last 11 years, the Red Sox and Yankees both have two Championships each, and they’ve been relatively evenly matched. Right now, for instance, the two teams have identical records in the AL East, and they’re tied for first. Only one of these teams will leave Fenway tonight with first place, and the best record in the American League.

Just seven years ago, a series like this would be overshadowed by the constant threat of beanings, brawls, and general enmity. Now? Well, I’m sure you’ve seen Nick Swisher showering praise on Josh Beckett, and David Ortiz unabashedly bestowing hugs upon pinstriped rivals during batting practice.

Even among fans, some of the hatred has abated. There are certainly Yankees fans that I avoid like the plague, but for the most part, I can respect their devotion and knowledge, just like I would with any other sports fan (however, anyone who chants “1918!” or utters the number “27″ isn’t worth the time. Let’s talk about contemporary history. Kthanks).

So is this better? It’s less nerve-wracking, to be sure, but the lack of open hostility makes things just a little bit less exciting. While it’s good to be able to be confident that Jeter won’t throw a sucker punch a Gonzo when the latter rounds the bases, the games are certainly less of an event than they once were.

That said, I would NEVER want to go back to the way things were, because the animosity was so intense because the Red Sox (and we as fans) had a monkey on their backs, and we were reminded of it every time the two teams met. Back then, we were still eighty-six-year losers, perpetually looking up at New York in the standings.

Now things are much more even, and if the price of that is that the edge comes off of the bitterness and rivalry a bit, I’ll certainly take the tradeoff. I’m calling for a Sox win tonight, on the back of one Joshua Patrick Beckett – he’s given us no reason to doubt him, and I don’t plan to start now.

Why Patriots Fans Should Root For Steve Tasker To Make the Hall of Fame

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Sportsgirlkat

Dear New England Patriots Fans:

Steve Tasker appeared on the cover of a December 1995 issue of Sports Illustrated. Are you a fan of Wes Welker, Danny Woodhead and Julian Edelman? Of course. You like them for their grit, their playmaking abilities, their chemistry with quarterback Tom Brady, and their ability as kick/punt returners. You also like them because they’re shorter than normal football players, and have found success in the NFL regardless of the freakishly large men around them.

If you adore what Welker, Woodhead and Edelman do for your team, then you need to cross team allegiance lines and thank the man who blazed their path twenty years ago: Steve Tasker.

Those who have read this blog for a while know my feelings on Tasker. I think it is honestly ridiculous that the legendary Buffalo Bill is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He, along with his special teams minded coaches, made the position of kick returner/punt returner/wide receiver what it is today.

The 5-9, 183 pound Tasker defined the idea of a shorter statured wide receiver finding success in special teams. He used his short-and-stout body type as a positive and plowed over, around and through defenders double his size. He returned kicks and punts for touchdowns. He blocked kicks and punts, took down other kick returners, and mired the Bills’ opponents deep in their own territory or gave the Bills’ offense back the ball immediately. Tasker would just throw himself in front of whomever had the ball – the kicker, the kick returner, whomever – and make their life at that moment in time a living hell. He also had grit and determination that showed on every play – no matter if his team was dominating the early 1990s AFC or in the midst of being embarrassed by the Dallas Cowboys in a Super Bowl. One of football’s most influential football minds, Bill Parcells, once admitted that he had to change his entire special teams game plan specifically for Tasker.

Tasker made seven Pro Bowl teams, seven All Pro teams, and is considered one of the top ten players never to make it into the Hall of Fame. Voters are hesitant to elect him to Canton because he only played on special teams, though it is well documented that the main reason Bills’ head coach Marv Levy held him out of the offense because he feared injuring their key special teams player. You can see Levy’s logic at work: because of his work defending kickoffs and punts, Tasker got his offense the ball back much quicker, giving them more opportunities to score each game.

I’ll grant you that Tasker was used differently than Welker, Edelman and Woodhead are on the Patriots’ offense and special teams. The three aren’t used as much defensively as Tasker was. But had Tasker not been used the way he was, and had he not been so valuable to the Buffalo Bills, NFL coaches might not be so inclined to use smaller wide receivers and kick returners the way they currently do. In the lineage of NFL offensive players, Tasker begat Welker, Edelman and Woodhead. The three would have had less of a chance to succeed had Tasker not given opponents fits and his team such an advantage in the 1990s.

So Patriots fans, cross those party lines and give credit where credit is due. Steve Tasker made the quick, gritty and short wide receiver who can make an impact on special teams a desirable commodity. If Hall of Famer Levy is to be celebrated for his creation and curation of modern special teams play, then Canton should induct the pen with which Levy wrote his special teams manifesto: Tasker.

Sincerely,

Kat

P.S. Need video proof? Here’s some for you:

NFL Network’s package on Tasker as the ninth best player not in the Hall of Fame

(Not so) Bold Predictions

Posted on August 5, 2011 by OffTheMonster

Erik Bedard’s first attempt at a win in a Red Sox uniform was thwarted yesterday by his own bullpen and former Sox pitcher Justin Masterson. The game wasn’t pretty if you were rooting for the local nine, especially since it means we’re in a tie for first with the Yankees, who are (conveniently) at Fenway RIGHT NOW for a three game set.

This man is pitching tonight – I think he can take them.

I’m going to go on record here and predict that the Sox take two out of three, with the Bronx Bombers taking the middle game (CC Sabathia over John Lackey). Jonny “K” Lester should have no problems taking care of Bartolo Colon (remember that time he swung the bat so violently he was on the DL for the rest of the season, and then didn’t want to come out ‘pen so he ran home early? Good times.).

Sabathia is likely to be his brilliant self, and since I’ve learned to not expect much from Lackey, I’ll concede that game (CC is on my fantasy team, so at least there’s that). I’m counting on Josh Beckett to take his recent excellence to the mound to take on Freddy Garcia – no slouch himself at 10-7.

If the Sox can take two of three, it puts them one game ahead of New York in the East – and every game counts.

Roy Halladay and Blue Jays Fans: Where Does Your Allegiance Go When A Fan Favorite Leaves?

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Sportsgirlkat

While trying to find my seats at the Rogers Center for the Philadelphia Phillies – Toronto Blue Jays game I attended last month, I met a retired couple from Mississauga, Ontario whose season tickets were nearby our seats. Quite friendly, they started sharing all of their knowledge of their beloved ballpark to me.

I took the opportunity to ask them their thoughts about the Phillies starting pitcher that day, former Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay. I gestured around the park. “Do you think he’s going to get some boos?”

“Absolutely not!” exclaimed the woman. “Roy is still ours. Roy didn’t want to leave. It was our stupid owners who wouldn’t pay him what he’s worth.”

She leaned into me and took a quieter tone, as if what she was about to tell me would make her lose her seats. “Look at us. We’ve had these season tickets for how many years? A long time. Our fellow fans come to this stadium in droves, even if they’re losing. It might not sell out, but that’s because it’s enormous. But we’re still drawing a significant amount of people, and we all buy food and shirts…how could they not pay the one player we liked? They had the money.”

She stepped back, and her husband chimed in. “We applauded him for the minute we saw him yesterday, and we’re going to give him a standing ovation when he comes to the mound today,” he said decisively.

My new Mississauga friends were correct. When Halladay walked to the mound for the bottom of the first, the sold-out crowd (many of whom were wearing their old Halladay Blue Jays jerseys and shirts) rose and roared. It gave me such a shiver up my spine that I accidentally hit pause on my video camera, missing a few seconds of the action.

Halladay pitched a complete game, and the Phillies beat the Blue Jays 5-3 that day, though current Blue Jays star Jose Bautista hit a beautiful home run off of Halladay. I tried to take a photo of every Bautista at bat against Halladay, because if any future children I have are mega baseball fans, they are sure to treasure it. (And just you watch, if I ever have kids, they’ll hate sports. It would be my luck.)
Jose Bautista Roy Halladay Toronto Blue Jays
After the game, the day’s starting pitcher for the Blue Jays, Carlos Villanueva ripped Toronto fans in comments to the media, saying:

“I know he did a lot for this team and this city but we have a new ace here and his name is Ricky Romero.”

Seeing Villanueva’s quote that night on TSN, I cringed. The Toronto fans had cheered for their own team too, giving Bautista a standing ovation for his home run. Who was Villanueva to tell fans who they should and shouldn’t cheer for? Was he just being a poor sport because his team lost? Or did he have a point and should have fans toned down their adoration?

This incident may have occurred a month ago today, but as long as there are trades and free agency in professional sports, it will still be relevant. When a beloved player leaves via trade or free agency, is it okay to still cheer for that player? Or do you have to pledge your allegiance to one or the other?

Of Hit-streaks and Nostalgia

Posted on July 29, 2011 by OffTheMonster

Yesterday afternoon, in the eighth inning, Dustin Pedroia came to the plate hitless after his previous three at-bats (he did, however, have a walk). The crowd, aware of his 24-game active hit streak, got to its feet and cheered, and were then rewarded when Pedey took a neck-high 3-2 offering from Greg Holland and deposited it in the Monster Seats, successfully extending his streak to 25 games.

The longest such streak in the majors this year belongs to Pedroia’s close friend, Andre Ethier, with 30 games. One can only imagine the ribbing Ethier will get if Pedey manages to notch hits in the next 6 games.

The most special part of the situation, in my opinion at least, was the fan reaction, and Terry Francona agreed: “I do think our fans are pretty special. They do react to things like that. It’s part of what makes Fenway so great,” he said. “We don’t need to have President races or mustard racing ketchup. Our fans like our baseball. I actually really think that’s cool. Nothing against mustard.”

This is part of why I find Fenway Park so special – we don’t need the gimmicks that other teams depend on to draw and keep fans. The new Yankee Stadium, for instance, felt to me like I was in a shopping mall and a baseball game broke out – it was plastered with technicolor ads and gimmicks, there were games and giveaways every half-inning on the scoreboard, almost like a minor-league stadium.

While Fenway does have a big new high-def scoreboard, it also hangs onto nostalgia with it’s manual scoreboard under the very same Monster Pedroia homered into yesterday, as well as the same wooden grandstand seats in which your father and grandfather might have sat. And the fans are just as knowledgeable and vociferous as they were when Teddy Ballgame was swatting homers from that very same batters box.

Tim Wakefield: Ironman

Posted on July 25, 2011 by OffTheMonster

Yesterday afternoon, during a typical day game/Mariners beat-down at the Fens, Tim Wakefield continued his solid march toward Red Sox immortality, notching his 2,000th career strikeout with the team, and his 199th career Red Sox win.

Wakey had a bit of a shakey start, giving up three runs in the top of the first inning, but his teammates were there to back him up, putting a five up on the scoreboard in the bottom half of the first – a nice change, since Wakefield traditionally hasn’t enjoyed great run support.

The streaking Sox blew the thing open in the fifth, tacking on another five runs, allowing Wake to stay in the game for the sixth, where he struck out Mike Carp to tally his 2,000th strikeout in a Red Sox uniform. Jarrod Saltalamacchia was catching, and he headed out:

“I knew it was the 2000th. I gave him the ball and gave him a hug to congratulate him… Not that guys watch their stats, but that’s a pretty big number so I assumed he knew he was getting close. When I told him, he was like, ‘Congratulations for what?’ I was like, ‘Crap, did I get this wrong?’ I wanted to make sure,” he said. “I looked at the [video] board and it said 2,000. He looked up and saw it and just started smiling.”

I’ve made my feelings about Wake pretty clear on this blog: I LOVE HIM. Over the years, he’s done it all for the Sox, from eating innings in the bullpen, to starting, to closing, and though there were some minor hiccups last season with his role, he’s been relatively flexible over the years. Timmy’s next win will be his 200th (186th as a Red Sox), and he keeps marching his way toward the team wins record of 192, currently held by some guys named Cy Young and Roger Clemens.

Wake lacks the pure electricity of either of these pitchers, and his status in the record book is a testament to his longevity and tenacity. Tim Wakefield is Boston’s own Ironman, and I for one am extremely proud of him.

[Quotes in this post are from the Boston Globe's Extra Bases Blog.]

What Sports Bloggers Can Learn From John Mayer About Twitter

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Sportsgirlkat

John Mayer at Berklee on July 11, 2011. (Photo: Berklee College of Music)

I recently read coverage of singer/songwriter John Mayer’s July 11th lecture at his alma mater, Berklee College of Music. Mayer returned to his Boston music school to share his ups and downs musically and with his celebrity.

Mayer touched upon his once obsessive use of Twitter, which he eventually had to abandon. Berklee Blogs reported from the lecture:

“(Mayer struggled) to curb using social media, which should have been an outlet for promotion but eventually became an outlet for artistic expression. Mayer shared that he found himself asking himself questions like ‘Is this a good blog? Is this a good tweet? Which used to be, is this a good song title? Is this a good bridge?’

And possibly more alarming, Mayer realized that pouring creativity into smaller, less important, promotional outlets like Twitter not only distracted him from focusing on more critical endeavors like his career, it also narrowed his mental capacity for music and writing intelligent songs.”

Most telling was this direct quote from Mayer:

“I stopped using Twitter as an outlet and I started using Twitter as the instrument to riff on, and it started to make my mind smaller and smaller and smaller. And I couldn’t write a song.”

Even though I’m tone deaf, Mayer’s insights regarding Twitter hit home for me as a sports writer. I devote so much of my time engaging my sports communities via Twitter, and having worthy and in-depth conversations there. I’m using ideas and thoughts on Twitter that might be better explored via my sports blog.

It is an easy rut for sports bloggers to get stuck in. You leave some of your best material – the discussion of a player’s role on a particular team, a discussion of how you would set hockey lines, who you would hire for a vacant coaching position – on Twitter. You might not even realize you are putting your creativity priority on Twitter, but step back and look at what discussions you’re spending a lot of time having on Twitter. You might be leaving a lot of topics there that you could be having on your blog.

Remember that even though Twitter has exploded with popularity, not all of your blog readers are there. Consider about expanding on topics you’re discussing on Twitter on your blog. Or write about a topic first on your blog, then share the blog post via Twitter and let the post generate the discussion. By putting your blog as creativity priority one over Twitter, you may not run into difficulty finding time to post or coming up with post ideas.

Start by asking yourself: Are you using your blog or Twitter to “riff” on sports? Is whatever one you’re using the one you want to be using?

Jason Varitek Celebrity Putt Putt

Posted on July 24, 2011 by OffTheMonster

As any of you who follow me on Twitter know, my friend Soni and I attended Jason Varitek’s Celebrity Putt Putt on Thursday evening. Why am I just posting about this now? MY COMPUTER IS FINALLY FIXED [also, I love Apple for extending my warranty for no extra charge!]. So I hope to close out July with a lot more entries to make up for the terrible job I’ve been doing so far this summer. So, without any further ado, I present a flurry of photos from the event, with a little bit of commentary:

The entire event was awesome – I only wish more players had come. Those in attendance included Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Jed Lowrie, John Lackey, Josh Beckett, Tim Wakefield, and, of course, Varitek himself. Tek and Salty each signed two baseballs for me (well, one was for my brother-in-law). Autograph seekers were aided and abetted by none other than Tek’s fiance, Catherine Panagiotopoulos (bet she can’t wait to change that name).

I really can’t say enough nice things about Catherine: she was beyond friendly to everyone crowded around, and even carted armfuls of baseballs, photos, and memorabilia from the fans to Varitek, making it her personal mission to assure that everyone who wanted an autograph received one. (She’s pictured above, signing a T-shirt for a staff member, and golfing.)

Overall, I would call the event a HUGE success – Soni and I certainly had a wonderful time – and it was extremely affordable, as Sox charity events go, at just $50 per person. Proceeds from the event went to Journey Forward, an organization looking to improve the lives of people who have suffered spinal cord injuries through participation in sports.

I’ll close this post with a sentiment from Thursday night, which I stand by still, even three days later:

And he thanked me.