Sunday, December 30, 2007
Perfect!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Break out the Guinness (Book of Records)
And, it's only on at Thom's! That's right the NFL Network-ah, ok the NFL Network caved and you can conceivably get the game on 4 channels in NYC. So, I guess we'll have to lower our beer from their price gauging levels. How about this? Everytime the Pats break a NFL record (Brady TD's, Moss TD's, 16 wins) we'll lower the price of Guinness $1 (while supplie last). We should still have a great crowd of Patriot loyalists, so get there early if you're not going to the game. But, if you are going to the game, let me know.
More Thom's Foolery
Just when you thought that Brady was getting a bit too big for his britches he brings it down a notch with this embarrassing ad. Good for you Tom. Way to keep it real.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Me and Youk and a Dog Named Boss.
Here we go again...
It wouldn't be a Red Sox World Series win without a final out baseball controversy. (I guess it's better than that other controversy surrounding a certain dynastic team.)
Sheila Papelbon, Thom's regular (seriously) and Jon's mother said, "That boy ain't right in the head. But, he means well."
"Boss used to have quite a bark", Sheila added. "But, since this second neutering he just sits around and mumbles to his sons. It's sad really."
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Can I Get an Amen?
from eric wilbur's Boston Sports Blog on Boston.com:
Since Game 5 of the
ALCS, your Boston teams (Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, and Patriots) are a combined
59-13-2-1.
Take away the Bruins, that record is 41-2, which is eerie in itself.
Not to get all Biblical on you, but let's read from the Book of Isaiah,
shall we? Chapter 41, Verse 2, reads: “Who has raised up from the east someone
to whom the Lord gives victory with every step he takes?”
Friday, December 14, 2007
The Mitchell Report List of Players.
Allen, Chad
Ankiel, Rick
Bell, David
Bell, Mike
Bennett Jr., Gary
Bonds, Barry
Brown, Kevin
Byrd, Paul
Cabrera, Alex
Caminiti , Ken
Carreon, Mark
Christiansen, Jason
Clark, Howie
Clemens, Roger
Conseco, Jose
Cust, Jack
Donnels, Chris
Donnelly, Brendan
Dykstra , Len
Franco, Matt
Franklin, Ryan
Gagne, Eric
Giambi, Jason
Giambi, Jeremy
Gibbons, Jay
Glaus, Troy
Gonzalez, Juan
Grimsley, Jason
Guillen, Jose
Hairston Jr., Jerry
Herges, Matt
Hiatt, Phil
Hill, Glenallen
Holmes, Darren
Hundley, Todd
Jorgernson, Ryan
Justice, David
Knoblauch, Chuck
Laker, Tim
Lansing, Mike
Lo Duca, Paul
Logan, Exavier
Manzanillo, Josias
Matthews, Jr. Gary
McKay, Cody
Mercker, Kent
McGwire, Mark
Miadich, Bart
Naulty, Daniel
Neagle, Denny
Morris, Hal
Palmeiro, Rafael
Parque, Jim
Pettitte, Andy
Pratt, Todd
Randolph, Stephen
Rocker, John
Riggs, Adam
Rios, Armando
Roberts, Brian
Santangelo, F.P.
Santiago , Benito
Schoenweis, Scott
Segui, David
Sheffield, Gary
Sosa, Sammy
Stanton, Mike
Tejada, Miguel
Valdez, Ismael
Vaughn, Mo
Velarde, Randy
Villone, Ron
Vina, Fernando
White, Rondell
Willaims, Jeff
Williams, Matt
Williams, Todd
Woodard, Steve
Young, Kevin
Zaun, Gregg
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Here It is.
REPORT TO THE COMMISSIONER OF BASEBALL
OF AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION INTO
THE ILLEGAL USE OF STEROIDS AND OTHER
PERFORMANCE ENHANCING SUBSTANCES
BY PLAYERS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
GEORGE J. MITCHELL
DLA PIPER US LLP
December 13, 2007
Leaked List?
Brady Anderson, Manny Alexander, Rick Ankiel, Jeff Bagwell, Barry Bonds, Aaron Boone, Rafael Bettancourt, Bret Boone, Milton Bradley, David Bell, Dante Bichette, Albert Belle, Paul Byrd, Wil Cordero, Ken Caminiti, Mike Cameron, Ramon Castro, Jose and Ozzie Canseco, Roger Clemens, Paxton Crawford, Wilson Delgado, Lenny Dykstra, Johnny Damon, Carl Everett, Kyle Farnsworth, Ryan Franklin, Troy Glaus, Rich Garces, Jason Grimsley, Troy Glaus, Juan Gonzalez, Eric Gagne, Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Giambi, Jeremy Giambi, Jose Guillen, Jay Gibbons, Juan Gonzalez, Clay Hensley, Jerry Hairston, Felix Heredia, Jr.Darren Holmes, Wally Joyner, Darryl Kile, Matt Lawton, Raul Mondesi, Mark McGwire, Guillermo Mota, Robert Machado, Damian Moss, Abraham Nunez, Trot Nixon, Jose Offerman, Andy Pettitte, Mark Prior, Neifi Perez, Rafael Palmiero, Albert Pujols, Brian Roberts, Juan Rincon, John Rocker, Pudge Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Scott Schoenweiss, David Segui, Alex Sanchez, Gary Sheffield, Miguel Tejada, Julian Tavarez, Fernando Tatis, Mo Vaughn, Jason Varitek, Ismael Valdes, Matt Williams, Kerry Wood.
According to a friend of mine that has seen the report there are inaccuracies to this list. Varitek, he said is not in the report.
I Want a New Drug
The field sobriety test that will consist of naming Roger Klemens' kids, spelling "Mientkiewicz", and doing a Jim impression. The names of those found to be sober will be released in these pages.
In case you haven't heard, MLB's study of steroid use in baseball dubbed "The Mitchell Report" comes out today. Many doubt the integrity of the report due to the fact that George Mitchell is involved with the Red Sox and reportedly there are many Yankees on the list: Clemens, Pettitte, Giambi. But, according to a "leaked" list of players on WNBC several former and current Sox will be listed: Varitek, Trot Nixon, Jose' Offerman, Mo Vaughn, Rich Garces, and Nomar. We won't know if this list is at all accurate until the real report is released at 2pm today. Rich "El Guapo" Garces (pictured above) is the only accused player who began taking steroids after his baseball career. MLB is claiming that his list has errors.
But, there are no errors in the fact that we've extended our Celtics "Big Three Special". Celtics fans will get $3 Thom's Ale through the end of the season. Wow! That's like a good deal on steroids.
Don't forget to be at Thom's this Saturday at 7 pm to celebrate our 2nd anniversary. As a token of appreciation we're going to have a 2 hour open bar. Warning: this will not be a sobering experience.
Monday, December 03, 2007
The Hits Keep on Coming!
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
The NFL Network is om at Thom's.
The higher powers at the NFL have decided that only those with NFL Network may watch the Dallas/Greenbay battle for the NFC tonight. Don't they realize that like no one in NYC gets the NFL Network? Sheesh! Well, I have good news. The game will be on at Thom's. So, don't worry about going home after work; come straight to Thom's, have dinner and enjoy the game. As a bonus we'll also be showing the Celtics against the clown princes of the court, The NY Knicks.
Speaking of NY media, have you ever wanted to meet Michael Kay? For the 3 of you that answered yes you can catch him at Hooters next week during the Jets/Miami supermatch.
If you see Kay,
Tell him he may.
See you in tea,
Monday, November 19, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving!
And speaking of distractions: As if this winter hasn’t been wonderful enough with Pedroia winning ROY, Jacoby’s homecoming, and Bonds indicted, and the Yankees thinking they’ve made all the right moves by re-signing the team that lost this year for more money than last year. The Red Sox are reportedly signing World Series MVP Mike Lowell to a three year deal. Now, the Sox have their team back that won it all this year. This is a time to be thankful.
Ah, Thanksgiving. Normally, I’d be spending Thursday morning freezing my two pairs of socks off at Harvard Stadium (It rained like a bastard last year.) watching my high school alma mater play in its annual Turkey Bowl exhibition with arch rivals English High. Sure, the match up of the oldest public school and the oldest high school in the oldest high school football rivalry has been a laugher since the Boston public school system fell apart in the 70’s. Still, the tradition and homecoming has drawn me to it lo these many years. But, this year, the Old Lady has to work and so do I. So, if you’re around the night of Thanksgiving swing by the bar. There’s an 8 o’clock football game and I’ll need leftovers to nosh on. You can expect a little egg nog and cider and holiday cheer. Try to give me a head’s up if you’re coming.
Saturday night, I’ll be out in Boston meeting some friends. Let me know if you’re around.
Looking Ahead!
BU Hockey: BU and Cornell square off this Saturday at MSG in a sold out event. Thom’s will be hosting an after party for some former players and personalities from BU like paly-by-play man Bernie Corbett. It’s open to anyone, so get to the bar after the game.
UMass Basketball: The first televised game of the season will be on at Thom’s on Wednesday, November 28th. Travis Ford had a great time at the bar last month and promises to come back.
Clamapalooza V: Clamcakes. There is much debate about what a Rhode Island clamcake is, especially from those that hail from the Buzzard’s Bay area of Mass (shout out to Fall River!). Well, we’ll be serving our very own version on Monday Night December 3 during the Pats game. This will, of course close out the Clamapalooza season.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
7 Down.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
The Undefeated Celtics
"Isiah has to start me. I've got soBlackmail! I love it. This is the most ridiculous franchise in sports.
much (stuff) on Isiah and he knows it. He thinks he can (get) me. But I'll (get)
him first. You have no idea what I know."
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Baseball Book Preview
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Across the Bar with Bill Nowlin
Bill Nowlin is a true renaissance man of Red Sox Nation. A native of Lexington, Mass. he has conducted tours dressed like a Minuteman, co-founded Rounder Records (and later Rounder Books), served as a professor of political science at the University of Lowell, traveled the world visiting some 130 countries, sits as VP of SABR (the Society for American Baseball Research) and has somehow found time to write no less than 17 compelling, informative books about the Boston Red Sox. His newest book co-authored with Chuck Burgess “Love That Dirty Water: The Standells and the Improbable Red Sox Victory Anthem” documents the history of the music associated with the Red Sox.
1. To date, you have published 17 books about the Red Sox. Why do you think one team has been so well covered in literature?
The Red Sox are based in Boston, which has a large number of colleges and universities. And which also used to like to think of itself as the "Athens of America", too. For a long time, there's been a more literary aspect to coverage of the Red Sox. The Boston newspapers may have led the way. There were really rather few books about the Red Sox until the later years of the 20th century, though - really, but a handful in the 1940s - 1960s. (After all, what was there to write about the Red Sox of the 1920s?) I really think the reason the team captured the imagination of so many writers was a reason that would likely elude aspiring authors today: the team's living out of a "Greek tragedy." To have come SO close so many times, only to fall short. The years roll right out of memory: 1946, 1948, 1949, 1950 (save for Ted's injury....), 1967, 1972, 1975, 1978, 1986, right up through 2003! It was a great story that now is the prelude to something else, something we might consider Uncharted Waters.
2. I am so grateful for your new book "Love That Dirty Water". So many Sox and non-Sox fans ask me why certain songs are associated with the team. I finally have the answers. What made you want to delve into this subject?
It was a "who" not a "what." Chuck Burgess is the answer. The book's co-author. It was all Chuck's idea. I thought it was way too narrowly focused an idea at first. The idea percolated for a while, and grew on me. I'd already done a lot of research on music in the history of the Red Sox. Finally, we just started doing it. That I'm in the record business made Chuck think I might be interested in a whole book linking music and the Sox, but it took me a while to come around - and then had a blast working with Chuck on it.
3. You have been producing music and writing about the Red Sox for many years. Is this the first time you've combined your love of the two?
Yep. Though I very much enjoyed writing an article for Red Sox Magazine this season on the very self-conscious use of music to accompany a ballgame as practiced these days to good effect under the leadership of Dr. Charles Steinberg and his colleague Megan Kaiser. Rounder Records turned 37 in October. My writing about the Red Sox began about a dozen years ago. I've really enjoyed looking at the team through so many different perspectives - writing books about some key players (Ted Williams and Johnny Pesky), about the park itself (Fenway Saved), about the people who work there (Fenway Lives), etc.
4. What does this second World Championship in 4 years mean to Sox fans? Will literary interest wane now that the "suffering" is over?
I do think there's a real risk that literary interest will wane. For years, we all wondered what it would be like if the Red Sox ever won it all. Would it rob Boston of its very soul? My answer was: I'd sure like to find out. Let's put it to the test. Well, it felt great, and I think all of us still enjoy remembering how 2004 played out. What could any team ever do to top it? First of all, they'd have to build up 80 years of suffering. OK, the Cubs are primed. But even the Cubs haven't had all those last-minute losses (1946, etc. etc.) Then to have a chance to beat the Yankees and go to the World Series in 2003 - and have that all snatched away at the very last minute by one admitted steroids user hitting two home runs (which I still want disallowed), and to have Pedro taken out of the game, congratulated, and then sent back in! Hollywood couldn't have written a better ending - and didn't! (They had to re-shoot the ending to Fever Pitch!) It could hardly have been better. And then, just three years later, to do it again - well, it wasn't the same, though they did stave off a late Yankees threat, and did have to win three sudden-death games in a row to win the pennant.
To me, the main thing 2007 means is: this ownership, this leadership knows what it's doing. Maybe there is a "Red Sox Way." It also means I am very much looking forward to 2008. Unlike 2004, there are many more reasons to think we could see a repeat. Am I getting greedy? Yes. What am I supposed to do - hope the Red Sox lose? I don't think so!
5. What do you think of all of the "Red Sox bars" that exist outside of Boston? Do other fan bases have such a phenomenon? Could they?
There are dozens of them, as best I can tell. Certainly New York has quite a few, and I'm aware of others in Santa Monica, Denver, Tokyo (pre-Daisuke, even). There is really something very special about Red Sox Nation. I don't know just what it is, nor how long it will endure ("will success spoil Red Sox Nation?"), but it's really a nice phenomenon that seems to be uniquely Boston.
6. 17 books and counting, what's next in your exploration of the Red Sox?
Two books this coming year will be on special teams from the past. One will be on the 1918 Red Sox, done in collaboration with 20-plus members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). The book - like the ones we've arleady done on the 1967 and 1975 teams - will largely consist of biographies of the men who made up the team. Another will be on the TWO Boston teams of 1948 - the Braves, who did make it into the World Series, and the Red Sox, who fell one game short of playing the Braves. Again, that's a SABR project.
There will be one other book that will gather together all sorts of bits and pieces about various oddities and tangents from Red Sox history. I already had a section on Native Americans who had played for the Red Sox. There have been a lot of them, including ones with such unlikely "Indian" names as Gary Waslewski. Now that we've had a great debut by Jacoby Ellsbury, I've extended that section a little further. Stay tuned....
7. What are your duties as VP of SABR (the Society for American Baseball Research)?
I'm one of the members of the Board of Directors of SABR and have very much enjoyed helping give whatever guidance I might offer as part of the board to this 7,000 member all-volunteer organization that really sets the "gold standard" in baseball research, from stats to stories to depths of database building. There are some very exciting things going on in SABR at the moment, which will begin to be unveiled in the next couple of years that will help researchers interested in deeper and deeper research.
8. Legend has it that when the Sox won the pennant in '67 you were the first to the mound to congratulate Lonborg. Could you describe that moment? Do you miss the days of fans rushing the field?
It's true. My sister Lisa (15 at the time) and I (22 at the time) went to the game and as the last couple of innings played out, we worked our way down into the lower box seats - crouching in the aisle - on the third-base side. There was no security to stop us, so at the final moment - I don't recall planning this; it was purely spontaneous - I jumped over the low wall and sprinted to the mound along with about 20-30 other people, getting there in time that I actually clapped Lonborg on the back (not my usual style, but I'm not sure I was entirely in my right mind). Then I saw hundreds of people headed toward us, and I got out of there quickly. I pulled up a handful of grass and shoved it in my pocket. Wish I still had it today, even if was only dust, but I have no idea whatever happened to it. It truly was "pandemonium on the field." Sure, I miss it in a way - but I do admit to rushing the field in a way as recently as 2004. It was a different situation. I was in the park with my son and a friend and his son. We were watching the players board the duck boats to head out on the parade. I noticed that there were maybe a couple of hundred people walking around on the dirt alongside the first base area near where the tarp is, and there didn't seem to be any security paying particular attention so, once again, I climbed over the wall and the four of us walked along as the boats began to move and head out. A minute or two later, I saw that a couple of hundred other people had followed and then the grounds crew started becoming concerned - not that there was going to be another game for five months. People strolled around out to the scoreboard in left, etc. The new ownership has been wonderful about extending the hours of the tours, welcoming charitable groups onto the field before the game, and working in so many ways to help people enjoy Fenway Park more. I think people today have plenty of contact that way - and I'm glad that it's still possible, even for the World Series, to line up outside the park and have a pretty good chance at a ticket. I did it three times myself this year when I'd already passed on my tickets, but then decided to go to the game. It was great that Mike Lowell and Dustin Pedroia brought tacos to fans waiting in line before the World Series. I've got some nice memories of waiting in line overnight in 1975 and again in 1986. Folks that show that level of commitment are real fans.
The Schill Still
Saturday, November 03, 2007
The Celts Cruise and The Sox Sign
The unveiling ceremony went as planned. The Big Three performed perfectly on the new Red Auerbach floor at the Boston Garden beating Washington 103-83. In attendance were Patriots' owner Robert Craft and wide receiver Wes Welker, and line backer Junior Seau. But, the star of the night was the World Series trophy brought by John Henry and Tim Wakefield who has just been extended another year to play for the Red Sox.
In other signing news the Sox picked up their option on Julian Tavarez and got confirmation from pitching coach John Farrell that he would be returning. Also, the Sox completed the Joel Pineiro deal with the Cardinals by acquiring the player to be named later Sean Danielson. No surprise, Danielson was a leader among Cardinal minor-leaguers in on-base percentage.
Kevin Cash filed for free-agency.
Friday, November 02, 2007
Fitzy's Back!
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Have You Seen My Baseball?
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The Death of Lancelot
As one star falls, another rises.
News came down yesterday of the sad death of Robert Goulet. A native of Lawrence, Mass., Goulet was a huge Red Sox fan who considered his performance of "Impossible Dream" at this year's home opener his greatest thrill.
Goulet died in the hospital awaiting an heart transplant. According to his wife Vera, among his last words were, ""Just give me a new pair of lungs and I'll hit the high notes until I'm 100."
Meanwhile, the new popstar of sports is Seamus McPapelbon. The kilt wearing, jig busting closer of the Red Sox will appear on David Letterman tonight Muddy River Dancing.
According to the Globe, Schilling has likely pitchedd his last game in a Red Sox uniform.