MLB Network

Nice to see Hazel Mae on the new Network. Not nice to see that new Yankee guy...what was his name?

'I'm going to be a Yankee, I'm going to be a Yankee,' he's thinking. Overwhelmed. "The Yankees are the greatest organization in professional sports". Yeah.... sure. Him and Boras totally duped the Red Sox on this deal. We never stood a chance in getting him. I'll bet Mike Lowell is breathing a sigh of relief.

They said that Texeira is a slow starter and he might be struggling the first couple months of the season. Hopefully. A $180 million flop? Wishful thinking. Good pitching will stop good hitting..... I hope.

Eliza Dushku

MY COMMENT ON THIS: No comments necessary, Brad.

Eliza Dushku Naked in Nobel Sun

Some great news today out of Hollywood. Apparently Eliza Dushku will be taking her clothes off in the indie movie Nobel Sun coming out on Friday (3 weeks ago). Dushku has long been a favorite of ours, but she’s even more exciting these days as she prepares to star in Joss Whedon’s new show Dollhouse, which starts up this coming February.

We’re sure some photos will pop up on the net. But until then here is one of our favorite Eliza Dushku pictures:

Eliza is the girlfriend/former girlfriend of newly acquired hurler, Brad Penney for the Red Sox.

Red Sox Meet With Teixeira

BOSTON (AP) Red Sox officials are meeting with free agent first baseeman Mark Teixeira Thursday, WBZ's Dan Roche learned. However, the two sides aren't close to getting a deal done. Boston hopes to lure the 28-year-old switch-hitter with an offer and the numbers out there Thursday were somewhere in the neighborhood of 8-years and 180-million dollars. However, nothing is expected to be "conclusive" following their meeting and that the two sides are apart on the money terms. Although, these things fluctuate and perhaps a deal could get done in the next few days.

Longest NBA Win Streaks

Here are the longest winning streaks in NBA history.

1 Los Angeles Lakers.......33..........11/5/71- 1/7/72
2 Milwaukee.....................20...........2/6/71-3/8/71
3 Los Angeles Lakers.......19...........2/4/99-3/13/00
4 Boston.............................18.......... 2/24/82-3/26/82
4 Chicago...........................18.......... 12/29/95-2/2/96
4 Knicks.............................18..........10/24/69-11/28/69
7 Boston.............................17..........11/28/59-12/30/59
7 San Antonio................... 17..........2/29/96-3/31/96
9 BOSTON.........................16.........CURRENT
9 Milwaukee.....................16.........10/24/70-11/25/70
9 Los Angeles Lakers......16.........12/11/99-1/12/00
9 Portland.........................16..........3/20/91-4/19/91
9 Boston............................16.........12/19/64-1/22/65
9 Los Angeles Lakers......16......... 1/9/91-2/5/91

C.C. does a No-No; chooses Evil Empire

It appears the prize of the free agent market has chosen where he wants to pitch.

The New York Post reported early this morning that pitcher CC Sabathia decided to join the Yankees after GM Brian Cashman met with Sabathia at the lefty’s home in San Francisco on Tuesday. ESPN reported the sides are very close to a preliminary agreement on a 7-year, $160 million contract -- the richest deal ever awarded to a pitcher. The Yankees’ original offer to Sabathia was for 6 years and around $140 million.

According to both ESPN and the New York Post, only minor hurdles remain before the deal is finalized and a source told ESPN there are "zero major road blocks" standing in the way.
Cashman left the winter meetings in Las Vegas on Tuesday and traveled to the San Francisco for his third meeting with Sabathia in three days.

Teixeira meets with the Yankees

The New York Times reported this morning on its website that New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman met with Mark Teixeira in Washington. Agent Scott Boras was present.
Tyler Kepner sums up the Yankees' current free agent stance:

The Yankees’ priority is pitching, and Cashman met with Teixeira at the request of the agent Scott Boras, who also represents starters Derek Lowe and Oliver Perez and outfielder Manny Ramirez. Boras was present at the meeting with Teixeira, who was visiting family in Maryland.
The Yankees would love to add Teixeira, a switch-hitter with power who has won two Gold Gloves. But it is unlikely they could sign both Teixeira and Sabathia, to whom they offered a six-year, $140 million deal on Nov. 14.

Red Sox sign RPH Junichi Tazawa

The Red Sox announced today the signing of right-handed pitcher Junichi Tazawa to a three-year Major League contract extending through the 2011 season.The 22-year-old joins the Red Sox organization after a four-year amateur career with the Nippon Oil ENEOS of the Japan Industrial League. With the addition of Tazawa, Boston now has 39 players on its Major League roster.This past season, Tazawa was 13-1 with 5 saves and a 0.80 ERA in 21 games/11 starts. He struck out 114 batters and walked just 15 over 113.0 innings pitched.

In November he led the ENEOS to the semifinals of the league's corporate championship and in his last start of the competition, a quarterfinals matchup in Osaka on the 21st, Tazawa allowed just four hits and struck out 10 in a complete-game shutout, one of four during the 2008 campaign.In September, Tazawa helped Nippon Oil win the 32-team Intercity Baseball Tournament for the first time in 13 years. He appeared in all five of the ENEOS' games from September 1-9, and earned the event's Most Valuable Player award going 4-0 with one save and a 1.27 ERA. He tossed 8.0 innings or more with double-digit strikeouts in each of his first two tournament appearances, including a complete-game, five-hit effort on September 4.

Red Sox sign Pedroia to $40.5M extension

The Red Sox rewarded their newest MVP with an extension Wednesday.

Second baseman Dustin Pedroia has signed a six-year, $40.5 million extension with Boston through 2014 with a club option for the 2015 season. Generously listed at 5-foot-9, Pedroia has quickly piled up a huge stack of hardware. Besides being named the AL's MVP, he also won the Gold Glove and the Silver Slugger this offseason. He was the 2007 AL Rookie of the Year and capped off that season with a World Series ring.

"I had to overcome a lot of things to prove people wrong, and so far I've done that," the 25-year-old Pedroia said on a conference call from his home in Arizona after he won the MVP award. "I have to find a way to have that edge." Pedroia led the AL in hits, runs and doubles in helping the Red Sox win the wild-card berth. He batted .326 with 17 home runs and 83 RBIs and also stole 20 bases.
Pedroia became a fan favorite at Fenway Park with his scrappy approach. In a lineup depleted by injuries to David Ortiz, Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew and the midseason trade of Manny Ramirez, Pedroia took his hearty hacks wherever needed -- while he usually batted second, he also hit leadoff and cleanup.

Tim Lincecum wins NL Cy Young Award

NEW YORK -- Tim Lincecum was a big winner on a woeful team, which fit him perfectly.
Firing 97 mph fastballs from his miniature frame, the National League Cy Young Award recipient is an anomaly in almost every way. Lincecum joined Mike McCormick (1967) as the only San Francisco Giants to win the Cy Young, taking home pitching's highest honor by a comfortable margin Tuesday following his second major league season.

"I was definitely surprised. I thought it was going to be a lot closer," Lincecum said.
The slender kid with the whirling windup received 23 of 32 first-place votes and 137 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Brandon Webb of the Arizona Diamondbacks got four first-place votes and finished second with 73 points.
Listed at 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds, tiny by today's standards for a big league pitcher, Lincecum defied detractors -- and the laws of physics -- by overpowering one hulking slugger after another.

"I don't remember anybody in my time who had that style of pitching, who put that kind of torque on his body," McCormick said on a Giants conference call. "I think that article in Sports Illustrated that called him a freak probably sums it up." Lincecum was 18-5 with a 2.62 ERA and a major league-best 265 strikeouts, remarkable numbers for a fourth-place club that finished 72-90. In fact, Steve Carlton was the lone Cy Young winner to pitch for a team that was worse. The Hall of Famer was an incredible 27-10 with a 1.97 ERA for the 1972 Philadelphia Phillies, who went 59-97.

Red Sox Number One Franchise

Analysis ranks Red Sox as the No. 1 franchise in the majors

BOSTON — Combining a resilience the field and a vision for excellence in the front office, the Boston Red Sox have brought unbridled joy to the ever-growing population of Red Sox Nation in the past five seasons. In 2004, there was literally dancing in the streets of Boston when the franchise stunned the New York Yankees by rallying from a 3-0 deficit in the American League Championship Series on the way to its first World Series title in 86 years. Three years later, a second generation of champions, led by high-stepping closer Jonathan Papelbon, danced in celebration on the Fenway green. To read the rest of the article, click here USA TODAY

Will Red Sox Host 2012 All Star Game

The Red Sox will celebrate Fenway Park's 100th anniversary in 2012, and they are hoping to commemmorate their landmark ballpark's birthday by hosting one of baseball's signature events: the All-Star Game.

"We have made a request to [Major League Baseball officials] to have another All-Star Game at Fenway Park in light of the 100-year anniversary and all of the changes that have taken place," Red Sox president and chief executive officer Larry Lucchino said Thursday.

Lucchino confirmed the franchise's request to host another All-Star Game -- preferably during 2012 -- during a media availability session in which he discussed the changes that are being made at Fenway Park during the offseason. Since the ownership group of John Henry, Tom Werner, and Lucchino purchased the team in 2002, the Red Sox have made upgrades to the ballpark each winter. The work is scheduled to be completed before the start of the 2012 season.
The 2009 All-Star Game is slated for St. Louis, and in 2010 it will be played at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. Sites have not been determined for 2011-2013.

The All-Star Game has been played at Fenway Park three times, most recently in 1999. That particular Midsummer Classic was a rousing success