Manny

The Dodgers have reportedly offered Manny Ramirez a two-year, $45 million contract.
The reported deal would pay Ramirez $25 million in 2009 with a $20 million player option for 2010. The Dodgers are expecting a response from Ramirez's agent, Scott Boras.

MY TAKE ON THIS. I think he's going to sign very shortly. He doesn't like 'long' Spring Training camps anyhow, so I would expect him to make an appearance at their camp in about 10 days. Actually, I sometimes wish that the Red Sox would resign him, but that is out of the question. Most of the players on the Sox never want to see him set foot in the clubhouse after what he did to us. They'd probably turn off the lights and beat the heck out of him and that is what he deserves.

I know after Manny went to the Dodger's we all were checking the boxscores....looking for a 3 or 4 in the 'so' column and for zeroes's in the 'h' column. But unfortunately, it didn't happen that way. We certainly were not hoping that he did well in LA. Gosh, if he had done that hitting for us, many Sox players would now have 3 rings on their fingers.

NESN 2009 SPRING TRAINING GAMES

Here's the games that NESN plans on broadcasting. Let's hope there are more. The Mayor's Cup series starts today. OPENING DAY IN THE GRAPEFRUIT LEAUGE!!! Like Johnny Pesky says.....'LET'S PLAY BALLLLLLLLL'


DATE .............................................Game .........................TIME
Wednesday, Feb 25.....Minnesota at Hammond Stadium....7:00 PM
Sunday, March 1..........Minnesota at Hammond Stadium....1:00 PM
Sunday, March 8..........Tampa Bay at Fort Myers................1:00 PM
Tuesday, March 17......Minnesota at Fort Myers..................1:00 PM
Saturday, March 21.....Florida at Jupiter...............................1:00 PM
Tuesday, March 24......NY Yankees at Tampa.....................7:00 PM
Saturday, March 28.....Minnesota at Fort Myers.................1:00 PM
Sunday, March 29........Philadelphia at Clearwater...............1:00 PM
Friday, April 3..............NY Mets at Citi Field.........................6:00 PM

Joe Girardi and AROID

Manager Joe Girardi said he planned to talk (steroids) to Rodriguez during the short bus ride from Tampa to Dunedin, where Yankees fans arrived early and gave A-Rod a polite reception. There were some boos mixed with cheers during pregame introductions and again when he strolled to the plate for the first time.

MY TAKE ON THIS: I guess a minute or two should clear things up, huh? That's about how serious they are taking this thing on ARod admitting to steriods. But then again, what can they say?

KG out for Road Trip

SALT LAKE CITY -- Kevin Garnett was headed back to Boston to have an MRI exam after straining his right knee in the Celtics' 90-85 loss to Utah on Thursday night.

Garnett will stay in Boston for the remaining three games of the Celtics' West Coast trip, Danny Ainge, the team's executive director of basketball operations, told ESPN NBA analyst Jackie MacMullan. The Celtics' road trip continues with a game against the Suns in Phoenix on Sunday. Boston returns home next Friday to play Indiana. Celtics spokesman Jeff Twiss said Garnett was traveling Friday, and his right knee strain was expected to be examined by Dr. Brian McKeon on Saturday

click here to read rest of story

Garnett hops off court with knee strain

Thursday, February 19. C's struggling in 4th without KG. Will the sun set when we head to Phoenix?

SALT LAKE CITY -- Boston forward Kevin Garnett was injured late in the second quarter of the Celtics' game at Utah on Thursday night and went hopping on one foot toward the locker room.
The Celtics said he strained his right knee and would not return.

Garnett injured his right leg while going up for an alley-oop late in the first half. He landed gingerly and motioned immediately to the bench for a substitute, then hopped on his good foot toward the locker room.

There was no immediate word on how serious the injury was or whether Garnett could return to the game.

Jim Ray Hart

I was attempting to do some research on the Springfield (MA) Giants of 1959-65 (NY and SF franchise minor league affiliate.

I came across information that Jim Ray Hart who played for Springfield and of later 'fame' with the parent club is living on the streets of Newark, NJ. Very difficult to get info on this. Sad story if it's true. 30 percent believeable to me. Must not have much of a pension.

It would be nice for some of these cheaters in baseball that have made millions upon millions of dollars from their drug-inflated stats to donate to some kind of 'homeless fund' for ball players who are barely living off their 'savings' or have little income from signing autographs and making appearances.

How about it Barry? Mark? Rafael? Alexia? Roger Rabbit? Those guys played their butts off for peanuts and you guys.... well.... it just makes me sick. Cheaters should never prosper, but unfortunately they do in virtually all sports.

J.D. Drew still with back problems

FORT MYERS, Fla. _ The first official day for position players to report is Monday, but all ready J.D. Drew is dealing with back issues. The Sox' right fielder missed 33 games late ilast season with a herniated disk and it didn't get any better during the offseason.

"It's not bad," he said. "It's still pretty stiff. I've fought it all offseason. It's been one of them injuries that has kind of lingered. I've been able to hit, run and all that stuff, but some days I wake up stiff and some days it doesn't seem to be too bad. I'm in the maintenance stages and worked during the offseason to keep it strong. Everything is well enough to play. I just need to isolate it and try to keep it from flaring up too bad."

He had a MRI taken after the season was over. He said Sunday afternoon the herniated disk is causing the stiffness. click here to read ProJo story

History of A.G. Spalding - Sporting Goods Manufacturer

(I decided to revise this post I did on July 9 last year)

Many years ago, my dad worked for Spalding's in Chicopee, MA and I guess he retired around 1976 or so and moved to Florida. Can't recall the exact year; I've been in California myself since the early 70's. He passed away in 1981.

I guess you'd refer to him as a 'laborer' and I remember that one of the positions that he held had something to do with the production of golf balls and he worked around some kind of big drum. from what I can recall him telling me. I don't think it was really the best job in the world, but it was employment.

Back then - the 60's - Spalding was a major manufacturer of a number of sport items, including baseballs, footballs, golf balls, golf clubs, bats, etc. and we ended up with a lot of their products. I remember going to their Christmas parties and getting a lot of 'freebies' along with what I considered a nice gift. I really looked forward to this every year. I remember my dad bringing home the latest catalog from Spalding's and we would be excitedly looking through it picking out things we wanted.

He was always bringing home golf balls and he actually constucted a miniature golf course in back of our house that was located on South Street in Holyoke, MA, perhaps 6-7 miles from the factory he worked in. It had something like 7-8 holes and was really neat. I now wished that I would have learned how to play the sport. My interests stopped right there. I think that if my dad had taken me down and gotten me a set of clubs (instead of a couple putters) and introduced me to the local courses, I would have taken up the sport. But an athlete, he was not. He was great working with his hands nonetheless, but we'll leave that topic.

I can recall my brother heading over to Wyckoff Park in Holyoke to play some golf and he caddied over there. I remember dad bringing home these small 'practice golf balls' - the tiny plastic round 'balls' which had holes in them. We used them to play 'pee-gee', which was actually another form of whiffle ball but the ball didn't travel as far and the ball did not crack any windows. Much harder to hit though, but it sharpened your batting eye becasue it was so much smaller than a whiffle ball or an actual baseball. I spent much of my younger days playing various forms of baseball along with 'pee-gee'..... played a lot of 'pickee' (sp?). Anyhow, never amounted to much of a ballplayer.

Enough of the preliminaries. Now we are going to take a trip down Memory Lane to look at the rise and fall of this one-time sports giant. Hopefully, I will post more on the history of Spalding's at a later date. But for right now, I guess we'll begin with the day that they theoretically died........ April 18, 2003.

Spalding selling product names Sports goods company aims to narrow
Oakland Tribune, Apr 18, 2003 by Adam Gorlick, Associated Press

CHICOPEE, Mass. -- Spalding Sports Worldwide is giving up basketball, football and other sports to focus on its golf game. In a $65 million deal announced Thursday, the nation's oldest sporting goods company is selling the Spalding name for all products - - including basketballs, volleyballs, footballs and soccer balls -- to athletic wear maker Russell Corp. Spalding officials say the move will let them focus on developing and marketing their Top-Flite, Ben Hogan and Strata golf products, which account for about 70 percent of sales. "We become a stand-alone golf company with those three brands," said Spalding president and CEO Jim Craigie.

"It gets Spalding down to a core business and the part of their company they're most successful in," Doyle said. "And it's a good fit for Russell, which will have a strong equipment name tied to a strong clothing name." Russell, which is based in Atlanta, will continue operating the Spalding sporting goods business in the Springfield area. Most of Spalding's inflatable balls are made either in Asia or on the West Coast, and Craigie said the sale won't impact the manufacturing and distribution of Spalding equipment.

Spalding, which will likely rename itself after one its golf ball brands, will continue producing the Top-Flite, Ben Hogan and Strata balls at its Chicopee plant. The company has about 1,000 employees. Spalding was founded in 1876 by A.G. Spalding, a star pitcher for the Boston Red Stockings and later the Chicago White Sox. He retired from the mound to make baseballs.
It also was the nation's first manufacturer of basketballs after the game was invented in neighboring Springfield in the 1890s.

New Witness Comes Forward vs Bonds

Barry Bonds' former personal shopper, Kathy Hoskins, is expected to testify that she saw trainer Greg Anderson inject the former Giants slugger with steroids back in 2003.

Bonds entered a "not guilty" plea Thursday on charges he lied to a grand jury and will face trial on March 3. Prosecutors are also expected to call former MLB players Jason Giambi, Jeremy Giambi, Benito Santiago, Armando Rios, Randy Velarde, Marvin Benard and Bobby Estalella to the stand. Feb. 14 - 8:36 am et

Rocco Not Ready to Rock?

FORT MYERS - Even after all this time, all the rehab work and the all the visits to specialists, Rocco Baldelli still is uncertain what to expect from himself this season.

Baldelli, who signed an incentive-laden, one-year deal with the Red Sox last month, has been battling channelopathy, an affliction that causes muscle fatigue. Since last fall, he’s been taking a new cocktail of medicines, but until be begins the rigors of spring training and the regular season, he won’t know how his body will respond (rest of story)

It's a Dunn Deal

The Washington Nationals have agreed to a preliminary deal with 29-year-old free agent Adam Dunn, a signing that would fulfill their offseason-long search for a left-handed power hitter. Two independent sources have told the Post that Dunn will sign a two-year deal, possibly announced as early as tomorrow.

Is Brad Penney ready to pitch?

It looks like JUNE to me!!!!

This Day in Red Sox History

February 15 1989: Roger Clemens signs a 3-year, $7.5 million contract with the Red Sox. He becomes the highest paid player in baseball, but loses that distinction the following day when Orel Hershiser re-signs with the Dodgers for 3 years at $7.9 million.

February 14 1963: John Marzano is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

February 13 1976: Brian Rose is born in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

February 12 1981: Carlton Fisk is declared a free agent, ending his 11-year tenure with the Red Sox.

February 11 1918: The Red Sox name Ed Barrow manager. He succeeds Jack Barry, who had managed the Sox to a 2nd place finish in 1917.

February 10 1923: The Red Sox trade pitcher Al Russell and catcher Muddy Ruel to the Washington Senators for catcher Val Picinich and outfielders Howard Shanks and Ed Goebel.

February 9 1953: The Red Sox trade Vern Stephens to the Chicago White Sox for Hal Brown, Marv Grissom, and Bill Kennedy.

A-Rod on Steroids

As most of us had suspected all along, the word is out on AFraud. Yes, he is a user of steroids. I am not going to dwell on this particular issue because I really don't give a darn about this player, or should I say 'cheater.'

What concerns me is that there were 120 players that tested for steroids back in 03 or whatever. That averages out to 4 players per team. I don't want to point my finger at any Red Sox whom I suspect of taking steroids, but I am going to let you do it. Face the facts people, we do have individuals on our beloved Red Sox who have taken steroids in one form or another.

Just look at players who have produced over the years and then they are possesed by frequent injuries and of course, their productivity diminishes. Of course, players whose vital statistics increased dramatically over their normal years' prior could be highly suspected especially if they have 'tailed off' in the recent years. Might be 'the years' are catching up with them, but suspicions are aroused. You know, I have at least 3 players in mind on the 'Sox that I have suspected for several years but I am not going to give any more specifics because I do not want to believe it myself and it would be sacriligious to do so.

End of Hiatus

Hi People. Haven't been posting much over the winter... took a brief hiatus from the blog. Anyhow, I will no be posting regularly as we approach another exciting baseball season and hopefully, the Sox will prevail once agin.