tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1243423101957495222024-03-13T03:42:17.541-07:00The Lady In RedJust what the world needs! Another Red Sox blog!Ruthiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03862490410846278910noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-124342310195749522.post-10831216267919255752008-02-14T09:19:00.000-08:002008-02-18T12:03:04.526-08:00Clemens, Congress and CynicismI watched a good deal of the Clemens/McNamee hearings before Congress and likely don't have that much more to add about it that others haven't already said. I mean, to me, it is so obvious that Clemens is lying and as I said from the start, he just thought he could rise above it all - being who he is -- but instead he just dug himself a hole and then just kept digging and digging.<br /><br />I would have to say that out of Yankees, Andy Pettitte is one that I have always had some level of admiration for, and I am glad that he told the truth, but I can't believe Congress didn't make him testify at this thing. That being said, I also think that he may not have been able to put up with the scrutiny sitting next to Clemens and he could <em>very easily </em>have ended the day with a "you know, perhaps I did misremember after all." THEN where would they be?? At least this way, his deposition did the talking and there can't be any doubt.<br /><br />McNamee is a jerk, there's no doubt, but it's silly to think that Clemens would allow him to inject his WIFE with HGH but... he himself had never even THOUGHT of it. He really expects people to believe that? Oh, and nice touch throwing your wife (not to mention your deceased mother) under the bus, Rog. "Happy Valentine's Day, darling!" You know, nothing says <em>romance</em> quite like testifying before Congress, the nation and your children that mommy injected herself with the bad stuff you've been telling them not to do all those years. And that the reason you took injections of <em>anything</em> to begin with, was because your <em>mother</em> told you B-12 was good stuff. Wow.<br /><br /><strong>Enough about that -- let's talk for one moment about the real sham here.</strong><br /><br />I resented Clemens wrapping himself in the flag out of desperation and his comments about how he's so easy to find a former president found him in a <img src="http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g117/nocrash/539w.jpg" align="right" vspace="4" hspace="5" height="157" width="222"><br />deer blind in Texas. I mean, this blatant attempt to present himself as an American Hero like he just came back from Iraq was so.... obviously pitiful, surely he didn't think any of the members of Congress in the hearing were going to fall for it??? <br /><br />Surely??<br /><br />Clemens visited the members of Congress days ahead of time, one can assume to just pop in and say a nice 'hi-ho and I just happen to have some autographed baseballs and posters here'. To see this 'hearing' split down the party lines and the blatant pandering to ROGER CLEMENS by some of these Republican Congress members was a travesty. I am terrified to think how easily they fold under <strong><a href="http://www.globalissues.org/" target="_new window">really important stuff</a></strong>.<br /><br />I mean, if they cow down to someone like Roger Clemens, just what will they do in the presence of someone with real <em>potential power?</em><br /><br />I think every one of them should be thrown out on their butts out in the street, and I'm not kidding.Ruthiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03862490410846278910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-124342310195749522.post-91101376339671564552007-11-01T11:23:00.000-07:002008-02-18T08:34:24.617-08:00Sox Win World Series Again!I love it, I seriously love it.. just a few short years ago we were the Hapless Losers and now look -- The Boston Red Sox have won the World Series twice in 4 years! I'm so proud of them.<br /><br />It's been a while, and... absorbing it all -- it's true, and I've talked with others who feel similarly ... it's not the same as 2004, but then again - how could it be?<br /><br />That was a once in a lifetime situation, really -- a <em>miracle</em>. Nothing less than a miracle. And a union of faith among the masses -- a faith so strong and emotional, I swear we were able to lift that team up and keep them up when the chips were down and all was lost.<br /><br />It is very rewarding to know that this team wasn't destined to never win a World Series again, that dumb (bad) luck wasn't going to rule the day over and over like the movie 'Groundhog Day' -- that -- it wasn't really cursed after all...<br />Not that I ever believed any of that. That was of course, crazy-silly, a brilliant marketing ploy by Dan Shaughnessy for sure, and nothing more.<br /><br /><br /><blockquote><p align="center"><em><span style="font-size:120%;">Besides, a 'curse' can be fought. Reversed.<br />Dumb, bad luck? How do you fight that? lol</span></em></p></blockquote><br /><br /><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px" src="http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/kellmoon/avatars/sweeper.gif" />Anyway, back to the win, the SWEEP. Their second World Series sweep... it is so rewarding. And very rewarding to see Mike Lowell receive the MVP. What a wonderful 'accident' he has been. Can you imagine if Josh Beckett had won the Cy Young, and then Mike Lowell the WS MVP? I mean, considering how Lowell was a classic 'add on' for us to get Beckett from the Marlins.. sort of a Rodney Dangerfield "Take my wife - please!" add on.... they <em>made us <div class="figure"><br /><p><img height="247" src="http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/kellmoon/pedsjacoby.gif" width="147" /><br /><p>Galadriel: "Even the smallest person can change the course of the future."<br /></p></div></em>basically take him off their hands to get Beckett. Wow, I guess sometimes just a change of scenery, change of employer is all that is needed sometimes.<br /><br />Well, my grammy would have been very thrilled with these last few years of Red Sox baseball. I regret that she and my parents never got to see all this. I do hope that there was... someway ... that they still got to. :)<br /><br />I do think Grammy would've just <em>looved</em> Pedroia and Ellsbury...Ruthiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03862490410846278910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-124342310195749522.post-74805680621666806582007-10-27T16:00:00.000-07:002008-02-18T12:05:05.402-08:00Game Three, World SeriesYeah, it's been great around here, so far we have won the first two games of the WORLD SERIES!! Sometimes my dh and look at each other and just marvel at the fact that we are in the World Series.<br /><br />Josh Beckett has been freaking amazing, and Curt Schilling is still the Big Game Pitcher the world knows him as (yes, even poor Yankee fans have to know it, but of course, would never say it).<br /><br />Speaking of Yankees: I love this promotional poster!<br /><br /><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/eoyore/Smilies/golf.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br /><br /><br />heh heh -- No, that is most certainly not my handiwork... although it's not too bad... but that <em>does</em> look like JUST the type of shirt Johnny Damon's wife would dress him in now. Now that he's all metrosexual and all. But it's nice to have them working on their golf games, that is for sure.<br /><br /><br />ANYWAY: I hope Daisuke pitches really well tonight! <strong>LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! </strong>Ruthiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03862490410846278910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-124342310195749522.post-53256032989035477062007-10-19T07:14:00.001-07:002007-10-19T07:14:42.610-07:00Millar Rally Cry<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><p><object height='350' width='425'><param value='http://youtube.com/v/a84BrIfKbtw' name='movie'/><embed height='350' width='425' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' src='http://youtube.com/v/a84BrIfKbtw'/></object></p></div>Ruthiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03862490410846278910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-124342310195749522.post-43031286753433179142007-10-19T05:14:00.000-07:002008-02-18T08:38:36.917-08:00WOO HOOOOO Kevin MILAAAHHHHH!!!^^^ This thing above is seriously the most awesome thing I've seen for a while.<br />I love Kevin Millar ~ he was the <em> real </em>reason why the Red Sox were so loose in 2004, not some other people who shall go unnamed who profited off of their random 'idiots' comment.<br /><br /><strong>Yes, the Sox need to 'cowboy up' or whatever it is they need to do!!!</strong><br /><br />Josh Beckett was AMAZING again last night and thank you so much for being a true Ace of our staff -- we needed you right then and you came across for us. And thank GOD our offense woke up. I hope they pay attention and work the counts on Carmona again tomorrow night. I hope Schilling can give us another post season gem - that he is the 'warrior' still. I believe he is. I want <img src="http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/kellmoon/webelieve_215.gif" align="right" hspace="5" vspace="4">him to prove it -- Schill, you did it with your tendon hanging out -- you can do this, now. WE BELIEVE!!<br /><br />Daisuke? If we get that far -- that guy can make up for EVERYTHING this season if he can FOCUS and pitch like he is able to pitch. I hope so much we do get there and he IS able to <em><strong>DO THAT</strong></em>.<br /><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><br /><br /><br /><br /><em><strong>side note: </strong></em> Does Fox pay any attention at all to Buck and McCarver or are they as "dumbed with amazement and astonishment that borders on stupification" that we are listening to them? Uh -- JUST HOW MANY TIMES are you allowed to mix up players on a Big Team, FAMOUS players, mind you -- before the big hook comes out and pulls you offstage? I have seen probably a half dozen times them mix up "Ortiz" and "Ramirez". They did it again last night! Showing Papi and calling him "Ramirez"!!! McCarver was trying to show his intelligence *coff* saying something like "Beckett wants to throw a breaking ball here because....." uh, yeah, but Newsnote: C.C. Sabathia is on the mound, dude. oh my God. <br /><br />Last week it was them showing Okajima sitting in the dugout and them going on and on about how he was Daisuke Matsuzaka and blah blah blah... that's terrible, really, just terrible. Someone should say something.Ruthiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03862490410846278910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-124342310195749522.post-70642502908001471762007-10-14T09:21:00.000-07:002008-02-18T12:18:37.681-08:00Back To Back and Back AgainThat Game 2 last night was seriously annoying and makes one uneasy-queasy. I had very good feelings about it - again, <a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071013&content_id=2264846&vkey=news_bos&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos" target="_new window">watching Manny do what he does so well</a> while laying in bed and the two of us high fiving and clapping -- well, Manny just makes me happy. My husband then said "okay now, how about back to back?!" when our dear Mike Lowell came up and how sweet of him to oblige us! He is great and I am ticked off the Sox haven't signed him up right away, though I think they will. I sure hope so, but who knows what these guys may do any given year.<br /><br />Although I am glad they didn't sign Schilling (yet).<br /><br />But thankfully, I fell asleep before apparently Gagne came in. I had taken a Tylenol PM earlier, as I am now at a point where I am seemingly so in touch with my body that I can <em>feel</em> something start up in my gut that says 'hello, it is going to be very difficult to fall asleep tonight, let alone <em>stay</em> asleep, luv". I wouldn't know how to begin to describe this feeling, but have now experienced it enough to recognize it when it comes. It's like -- third gear.. at 11 pm. It's like "restless leg syndrome" - bodywide. Not good.<br /><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;" src="http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g117/nocrash/theotext2.jpg" border="0" vspace="6" hspace="8" />During Gagne's (current) meltdown, I guess Theo was madly texting somebody in the stands and today some people were speculating what it was -- this was my take on it.. <br />I think it's fairly obvious. LOL!<br /><br />Anyway, I do recall rousing my right eye open and rolling over to see Lopez with an uncertain look on his face, rubbing the ball.. <strong>it didn't give me a positive feeling.</strong> I still haven't watched the so-called highlights and I always watch sports shows. It's the only thing I watch for the most part when it comes to tv.<br /><br />Anyway -- enough about that. Game 1 was marvelous, wonderful, of course.<strong> 10 times up, 10 times on base for Papi and Manny, that is a good sign.</strong> Josh Beckett was great.<br /><br />Let me just add in here how wonderful it is the Yankees failed again. It makes everyone I know so darn happy. That is how <br /><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/eoyore/Smilies/TrophySquirrel.jpg" width="275" height="185" align="right" vspace="5" hspace"6">it should be, that's all I'll say. They are not allowed to, and never will, win it all with Johnny Damon on their team.<strong> That isn't going to happen. </strong> <br /><br />I love it -- he wanted to be on the 'best team'. Wrong again, bud, you WERE on the best team but your greed got in the way, well we all know that anyway. Will Torre come back? Who cares - he does, he doesn't.. I don't think things will change that much in there. They will try and get better pitching this offseason, and they'll try to get Mike Lowell (and probably will) and then I'll unfortunately have to work on his game too. Tut tut.<br /><br />It's not often that I can say "Wow, that was great tv!" but the Indians/Yankees series was that. The bug thing was amazing! So nice to see that Arod still has a mental block over the "P" word. (postseason) and nice to see that the Yankee captain ain't actually up to his hype - as sometimes suggested. I really doubt his leadership skills are worthy of a captain title, but.. as a Yank fan says "he leads by example, he doesn't have to say anything." That may be true. Well, I know it's true, it's just.. is it enough. Hey, I don't care. lol<br /><br />Anyway, I guess I have to go back to work. I have the floor today and no one is coming in - it's boring, but... thought I'd check back in here during lunch.<br /><br />Go Sox. You have to win some in Cleveland now. Matsusaka HAS to be FOCUSED and TOUGH now. Wakefield? God, I just hope he can be fairly tricky or we are screwed. <br /><br />Josh Beckett cannot pitch every night, guys.Ruthiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03862490410846278910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-124342310195749522.post-62771101757817580262007-09-26T06:37:00.000-07:002008-02-18T09:43:11.388-08:00Three GamesMagic number = 3 games, so let's hope the Sox keep on cooking. Just want to say here I am happy the Yankees lost last night, usually in those situations they 9 times out of 10 pull a rabbit out of their hat. <br /><br />I also want to say ... regarding Posada, wagging his finger at whoever was on second - accusing him/them of stealing the signs. This is SO TYPICAL of the Yankees today. A big show for the umpires and the tvs... like "everyone is cheating - except us, of course!" right in line with Torre's little move to have Iwamura's bat confiscated. I love the fact they had Arod's confiscated too, I was hoping <em>so much</em> that would come back and bite Torre in his butt.<br /><br />There actually used to be a level of respect I had for the Yankees. I am doing an inner search here and... yeah - no, that isn't there anymore.Ruthiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03862490410846278910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-124342310195749522.post-6521895747328751672007-09-25T09:35:00.000-07:002008-02-22T07:12:53.138-08:00Autumnal Equinox - in the Lyrical Bandbox<img src="http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u242/ladyredsox/fall-leaves-20050922-0930.49.jpg" align="right" vspace="4" hspace="9">I was told to update this. LOL So, since I always do what I'm told (snarf!) I shall try. <br /><br />It's been a hectic time around here -- and... I have to admit to watching way too many games of late the way I watched The Exorcist, with my hand over my face and one <img src="http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u242/ladyredsox/ExorcistPriestHouse_sm.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;width: 50px;" alt="Oh crap, Gagne's warming up??">eye <i>peeking</i> between the slit of two fingers.. honestly. <br />(Does Eric Gagne's head swivel all the way around, do you suppose??)<br /><br />I admit (proudly) to being a true blue, dyed in the wool, no foolin' no kidding Red Sox fan from waaaaaay back. No one can ever deny my creds. Because I know. I <i>remember</i> sitting on our couch during the HOT, humid dog days of summer as<img src="http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u242/ladyredsox/tv.jpg" align="right" hspace="5" vspace="7" alt="Fisk and Munson exchange pleasantries"> a kid. I was the only one watching most times - on a black and white tv no less. This team captured my imagination, I guess, because I learned the game from watching day in and day out - a tomboy who when she wasn't out climbing trees was watching the Red Sox. <br /><br />So I say all of this I guess to justify my position that, ever since the end of 2003 I have a method of self preservation I use. And that is -- I back off. I went into the start of 2004 wary, telling myself that I wasn't going to get so emotionally involved, wasn't going to commit so much energy this season - because the end of 2003 wrecked me for a long time. It was ridiculous. Low level depression for weeks and weeks. Every morning wake up: "why do I feel like this? oh yah the Red Sox lost." I wasn't going to let that happen again!<br /><br />I did a pretty good job in 2004 too, which is saying a lot because I absolutely adored that team, from A to Z, or ... Arroyo to Wakefield anyway (okay, maybe some Youkilis) and I felt very strongly that they were supposed to be The One. THEY were the Ones that were supposed to win it all. My favorite team ever. Ever. <br /><br />And believe me, even I eventually gave in to my affections, totally fearing that my heart was going to be broken yet again ("God, I KNOW you didn't bring us back here to Game 7 against the Yankees to have us lose again... right??) But sometimes I just need to give that to myself - the <i>permission</i> to back off, not get so worked up and emotionally invested in it all. <br /><br /><img src="http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u242/ladyredsox/lugo.jpg" align="left" hspace="5" vspace="5">Well, that's kind of where I am right now. I haven't been feeling real good about watching the Sox winding down the regular season and watching those Yankees moving up, trying to take our season long lead from us. There have been some excellent, exciting games though, but unfortunately a lot of real bummer games that should never have <i>been</i> lost. So that is likely why I haven't written in here - I am watching still, but holding my emotions at arm's length. <br /><br />To tell you the God's Honest Truth: all I really care is, that the Yankees do not win it all. The Red Sox winning would be GREAT, very satisfying, but honestly, I don't care who wins if it's not the Sox, as long as it is NOT the New York Yankees. <br /><br />I had a nice conversation with a client the other day, sitting at their kitchen table. Thirty year season ticket owners. And the guy says to me, what I've said all along. "I don't have to have the Red Sox ever win the World Series again... if they do, that's great, I'd love it, but I don't <em>need</em> it." To which I said "I know what you mean, because.. how could you ever beat that? You couldn't, that will NEVER be topped. Not just the fact that we've waited so long and so patiently, but <em><strong>the way they did it </strong></em>-- can never be duplicated or beaten. By any team, EVER."<br /><br />And I still feel that way. And I would love the Sox to go all the way to the World Series and of course, win it again. That would be FANTASTIC. But my true feelings are more revenge motivated ~ I just want to go further than the Yankees in the playoffs and have them die. DIE. lol And we keep going. And barring that, that they do NOT win it all. It cannot happen. <br /><img src="http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u242/ladyredsox/exorcist.jpg" align="right" hspace="6" alt="The Power of Christ compels you!" ><br />So here is hoping that our final 6 games, at Home, at our Lyrical Little Bandbox* are exciting and we win and our guys who need rest get their rest, and they come out <strong>fighting</strong> in the playoffs. <br /><br />And may the post season that is almost here, despite it seems like yesterday that it was the start of spring training, bring excitement and great baseball (and good umpiring, which has been a little suspect this season which is disconcerting..) and Greatly Satisfying for Red Sox fans and ... okay, some level of satisfaction for the other teams involved and good luck to all the teams in the post season!<br /><br /><a href="http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u242/ladyredsox/arod-774533.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 97px;" src="http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u242/ladyredsox/arod-774533.jpg" border="0" alt=""/></a><br /><br />Except those you-know-who's. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />---------------<br /><em>* "Fenway Park is a little lyrical bandbox of a ballpark. Everything is painted green and seems in curiously sharp focus like the inside of an old fashioned Easter Egg. It was built in 1912 and rebuilt in 1934 and offers, as do most Boston artifacts, a compromise between man's Euclidean determinations and nature's beguiling irregularities."<br /><font size="1">-- John Updike, "The New Yorker" (1960)</font></em>Ruthiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03862490410846278910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-124342310195749522.post-38097052423059463482007-08-26T08:35:00.000-07:002008-02-18T09:46:05.971-08:00Can You Feel It?Momentum.<br /><br />It's steaming through the latter half of the 2007 baseball season. I haven't been here much - I talk so much on some other forums, that I don't have the interest to keep talking about it here on a daily basis.<br /><br />But just let me say that my Sox are really heating up lately. It is very encouraging to see Big Papi arise from <img src="http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u242/ladyredsox/papi.jpg" align="right" vspace="5" hspace="4">his slumber and start hitting the way we all knew he would. Red Sox Nation was the epitome of patience ~ just KNOWING. KNOWING that Papi and Manny were going to come into their own at some point. Better now than earlier. Better now - heading into the end of the season.<br /><br />Better in the (hopefully) playoffs than in meaningless games. You can tell I am a lifer here -- I will not jinx things if I can help it. I never say 'such and such is a sure thing' because if there is anything I know as a Sox fan, "there is no such thing as a sure thing."<br /><br />Thank God we built up such a great lead in the beginning of the season. It's been sort of exciting/scary/hand wringing to watch the Yankees come back and hover around. Right now they are 6.5 games back and it is near the end of August...<br /><br />By no means is it over. We play them three games this week coming up. But I feel good about my team right now. I read a lot of mfyfs gloating still about sweeping us last year, but last year was different. Our pitching staff was, while 'decimated' is too strong, it was greatly impacted by injuries.. and just as importantly, our Captain, Jason Varitek was injured and OUT.<br /><br />This is not the case this year - and I feel the strenghth of the Red Sox is going to overcome the Yankees' dreams of domination. It is just not going to happen. I just want to take 2 of 3... and I will be happy.<br /><br />Let's see if Joe Torre puts Johnny Damon in these games, since he had a good game last year... PRESSHHAAAAH, Johnny.. PRESSHHAH<br /><br /><br />Anyway -- Two Important Things The Lady In Red wants to make clear:<br /><img src="http://montreal.expos.mlb.com/images/2006/03/12/iUuK53zU.jpg" height="171" width="200" align="left"><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong>1. DUSTIN PEDROIA FOR ROOKIE OF THE YEAR!!!<br /></strong></span><br /><br />and<br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u242/ladyredsox/mike-lowell-on-rt.jpg" align="left" width="250" height="167"> <br /> <strong><span style="font-size:180%;">2. SIGN MIKE LOWELL NOW.</span></strong>Ruthiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03862490410846278910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-124342310195749522.post-43797344501408827262007-05-19T06:50:00.000-07:002008-02-18T09:46:56.696-08:00Clubbies Gone Wild<strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Clubbies gone wild</span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><div><br />By Luke CyphersESPN The Magazine(Archive)<br />Updated: May 12, 2007, 1:57 PM ET<br />Editor's Note: This story appears in the May 21 edition of ESPN The Magazine and includes special reporting by Shaun Assael and Amy K. Nelson. </div><br /><div><br />THEY belong on trading cards, these little men behind the grand myths. One was a trainer whose silence speaks volumes about the home run record. Another rose from anonymous cop to right-hand man for Roger Clemens. Yet another was errand boy for the player who took Cal Ripken's place at shortstop. Then there's the Red Sox clubhouse manager who preyed on children, and the Dominican trainer to whom players still flock -- even after police watched him pick up a bag of steroids. </div><br /><div><br />To their legions we can now add Kirk Radomski, usurper of the mighty Victor Conte (heretofore the Babe Ruth of toadies) as maybe baseball's chief power supply. You can't miss him. He's the guy with the mullet picking up the towels. </div><br /><div><br />This new class of sports celebrity will never take a playing field, fill out a <img hspace="4" src="http://assets.espn.go.com/i/insider/insiderMagIndex/mag_05212007_200x200.jpg" align="right" />lineup card or pull the trigger on a trade. They are clubhouse staffers and personal trainers and bullpen catchers. And they have long been invisible -- not to mention indispensable -- contributors to the national pastime. Many are legitimate, but more than a few work in the shadows. And now, thanks to a series of scandals, these low-level workers are doing star turns as witnesses to and perpetrators of crimes against their sports, as a curiously interested government decides that it wants to know what goes on outside the lines. </div><br /><div><br />They are gofers and lickspittles, detailers of cars and movers of memorabilia -- and in some cases, procurers of contraband drugs. They program the clubhouse TV so the players don't have to, and at the drop of a $20 bill, they run to Starbucks for the chocolate-covered coffee beans that are all the rage now that the league has banned amphetamines. </div><br /><div><br />These guys, for the most part, couldn't pass a background check at Wal-Mart. And yet they had free run of clubhouses for at least two decades, the two that not coincidentally coincided with the steroids era. You think Radomski, the 37-year-old former Mets batboy who just pleaded guilty to money laundering and distributing steroids to an unknown number of ballplayers, is special? Only in that he violated the one rule required to maintain his status.<br />He quit keeping secrets. </div><br /><div><br />PRO SPORTS, from the inside, is often as glamorous as a Mississippi catfish factory. There are ugly jobs to be done: washing frightfully dirty laundry, discarding bloody tape and medical waste, cleaning up tobacco spit and chewed seeds. At least once a year, a violent stomach flu decimates a locker room, the viral upshot of many men being in close quarters.<br />The people doing the off-field jobs don't earn much by ballplayer standards, or even by most standards. Before tips, clubhouse attendants make $15,000 to $20,000; batboys just $5,000 to $8,000. But they're offered a variety of secondary markets -- for memorabilia and tickets, for example -- and someone willing to hustle can easily pad his paltry pay. Before a game, you can trip over a clubhouse kid genuflecting before a superstar who is signing some baseballs. They're "for charity," but players suspect, with good reason, that a few of those autographs will wind up on eBay or at a card show, the proceeds going to an underpaid clubbie near you. </div><br /><div><br />Of course, clubhouses contain dozens of men with tons of disposable income, and that creates another secondary market: for favors. Players have cars that need washing, dogs that need walking, packages that need to be mailed or picked up. These already rich men also get a cash per diem of $72.50 on the road, money just looking for a way to be spent. Clubbies do what they can to be the recipients. They aim to please, whatever it takes.<br />So when a player misses the laundry hamper with his six-foot jump shot of dirty underwear, a clubbie is there to pick it up and jam it home. He's willing and usually able to help procure last-minute tickets, often for women the players met the night before. Rich buyers, underpaid sellers: It's the definition of the perfect underground economy.<br /></div><br /><div>George Mitchell will be interested to hear what Kirk Radomski has to say. </div><br /><div><br /><a href="http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2006/0616/mlb_a_mitchell_195.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2006/0616/mlb_a_mitchell_195.jpg" border="0" /></a>For a while, Radomski was a titan of this market. In the steroids era, ballplayers needed drugs, and Radomski knew how to get them. (From whom remains to be seen; there's no telling where the threads may lead. Recently the IRS raided Frankie and Johnnie's Pine Tavern in the Bronx, a hangout for clubbies, players, politicians and the occasional wise guy.) As a Mets batboy, equipment manager and clubhouse assistant for 10 years, Radomski was particularly well situated to develop contacts. </div><br /><div><br />"There were, like, 20 kids in that clubhouse, and you didn't know who was doing what," recalls Brian McRae, a broadcaster for the Royals who played for the Mets and four other teams in a 10-year career. "It was odd to me because in Kansas City and Chicago, access to the clubhouse was limited. In New York, it was looser. You saw people and would wonder, What the hell is going on?" </div><br /><div><br />For Radomski, the answer was a lot. According to an affidavit filed in connection with the investigation, an FBI source said, "If a professional baseball player was currently using performance-enhancing drugs ... that player likely would be getting it from Kirk Radomski" and that he "took over after the BALCO Laboratories individuals were taken down."<br />To call theirs an insular society is an understatement. Most clubbies not only won't speak to the media, they won't even make eye contact, preferring to stay on the move, always appearing busy, busy, busy. But Radomski has bragged that he could write a book more explosive than Joséé Canseco's. He's had to wait to sell the rights, though, because he's been wearing a wire and telling his story for free to federal investigators for the past 18 months. Now, as he prepares to open up to baseball's investigator, George Mitchell (another condition of his plea deal), dozens, perhaps hundreds, of players worry that he'll name names. </div><br /><div><br />As explosive as the Radomski revelations promise to be, they shouldn't surprise anyone. For years, Clubbies Gone Wild was the burlesque in even the most storied clubhouses. Some clubbies were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. In 2000, Boston police pulled over Red Sox clubhouse aide Carlos Cowart at a traffic stop. The 19-year-old had borrowed a car from Manny Alexander, who'd once replaced Ripken in Baltimore. The cops found an envelope containing steroids and syringes in the glove compartment. Both Cowart and Alexander denied ownership, and no charges were filed. Players later said that Cowart was a model employee, but he never again worked for the team. </div><br /><div><br />Other clubbies were just plain wrong. After several former spring-training clubhouse boys filed suit in 2001 alleging that they had been molested, Red Sox clubhouse manager Donald Fitzpatrick pleaded guilty to four counts of attempted sexual battery on children under 12. Barry Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, was one member of the entourage that owned a corner of the Giants' clubhouse through 2003. Now convicted in the BALCO case for conspiracy to distribute steroids and for money laundering, he's in jail for refusing to testify in Bonds' perjury investigation. </div><br /><div><br />In 2005, Mets groundskeeper Dominic Valila pleaded guilty to felony charges for his work as a runner in a multimillion-dollar mafia gambling operation. Last year, the New York Daily News reported that in 2001, Canadian Border Service agents snagged Juan Gonzáález's trainer, ÁÁngel Presinal, as he unloaded an unmarked bag of steroids and needles from an Indians charter at the Toronto airport. Presinal said the bag belonged to Gonzáález; the player said it was Presinal's. No charges were filed. Presinal was banned from MLB's clubhouses, but he still trains many Latin American players. </div><br /><div><br />It's a tale as old as Shakespeare. When the low and talentless -- or at least the less talented -- aspire to mix with the great, it's amusing, inevitably a bit tragic ... and almost invariably pathetic. So what does it say about the players who take advantage of the underlings? And of the clubs that let them keep the game's darkest secrets? What if now, the clubbies end up with the last word? </div><br /><div><br />It's hard to say if any of these cases spurred teams to rethink their clubhouses' accessibility. In 2004, Major League Baseball announced a crackdown on non-team-affiliated clubhouse people, even as officials admitted that they can't control whom the players choose as private trainers. And the players, clearly, aren't too discriminating. In the 1990s, Brian McNamee, an ex-NYPD cop, worked his way up from bullpen catcher to strength coach with the Blue Jays, where he worked with Clemens. He went to the Yankees when Clemens did, and by 2001, he was "Roger Clemens' guy," the pitcher's de facto trainer and on the team payroll. But on an October night in St. Petersburg, after a game with the Devil Rays, McNamee was found naked in a hotel pool, having sex with a woman rendered nearly comatose by the date rape drug GHB. Had security not dialed 911, the woman could well have died. Cops began a rape probe, and records show that McNamee lied repeatedly during his initial interview, even denying that he knew a team staffer who was also at the scene. But there were holes in the woman's story too; she failed to say that she came to the hotel to have sex with a third Yankee employee she'd been seeing. McNamee wasn't charged, but the Yankees quietly let him go. </div><br /><div><br />Last year, journeyman pitcher Jason Grimsley was investigated for distributing growth hormone. A trainer, whose name was redacted in an affidavit for the case, referred Grimsley to an amphetamine source. Though other trainers were rumored to be the source, The Los Angeles Times tabbed McNamee. But McNamee has denied any involvement with performance-enhancing drugs. Then-U.S. attorney Kevin Ryan said the Times story had "significant inaccuracies," but a spokesman for Ryan, when asked by The Magazine, would not clear McNamee. Meanwhile, Clemens (and Andy Pettitte) continues to employ McNamee. Says Clemens: "I'll train with him anytime." </div><br /><div><br />Not every clubbie has that kind of lifeboat. Five years after he borrowed Alexander's car, Cowart told The Boston Globe that the incident ruined him. He was in and out of work and cutting himself, leaving scars between his toes. "I just shut down," he told the paper. "How can you go from chilling with millionaires to washing dishes for old folks?" </div><br /><div><br />THERE'S A story that Yankees beat writers of a certain age like to tell, about a low-level staffer who, as a salaried employee, was given a World Series share. The money at least equaled his annual take-home. Soon after the checks were doled out, he was showing off a shiny new ride. It was right out of Goodfellas, when Johnny Roast Beef drives up in that Caddy. Players told the guy never to bring the car to the park again. The message was clear: Don't flaunt it, because it's not really yours. You may have played in high school, even college. We may let you hang with us, even pick up our cast-off women. But you'll never be one of us. Never forget that.<br />It's a tale as old as Shakespeare. When the low and talentless -- or at least the less talented -- aspire to mix with the great, it's amusing, inevitably a bit tragic ... and almost invariably pathetic. So what does it say about the players who take advantage of the underlings? And of the clubs that let them keep the game's darkest secrets? What if now, the clubbies end up with the last word? </div><br /><div><br />Might be time to trade your two Greg Andersons for a Radomski rookie card. </div><br /><div><br />Luke Cyphers is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. </div>Ruthiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03862490410846278910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-124342310195749522.post-43336881360723609212007-05-14T06:36:00.000-07:002008-02-18T09:55:32.367-08:00Nice Comebacker, boys!How sweeeet is it to see the Sox come back in the bottom of the ninth down 5 - 0 with one out?<br /><br />These are the type of games I think, that can make a season... games like this will give our guys the firsthand, <em>recent</em> knowledge that things can change, that they can still win, and they will be much less likely to float through the end of games. Or so I hope.<br /><br /><img src="http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g117/nocrash/winningrun15.jpg" width="420" height="305" hspace="6" vspace="6"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The baseball Gods were definately watching over the Boys in Red on Mother's Day -- a bit of luck and a heavy dose of grit - and you have a <strong>comeback win of 6 runs in the 9th inning.</strong> Gotta love this Instant Sox Classic. ;)<br /><br />On a related note; the Yankees are 8 games back. They look flat -- where is all of this chemistry that Johnny Damon was paid so handsomely to get going?? You know what? I don't even think the Yankee players themselves think Roger Clemens is going to be able to help them as much as some people seem to think. This team smacks of desperation so bad -- I bet all of their perfectly manicured metrosexual man nails are bitten to the quick.<br /><br />By July, the darkness surrounding this Yankee club is going to be palpable to everyone because the introduction of the Clemens situation in this group is absolutely the worst move this FO could've pulled off.<br /><br /><em><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;">I live for this!</span></strong></em> ;)Ruthiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03862490410846278910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-124342310195749522.post-40042698038958052532007-05-09T06:30:00.000-07:002008-02-18T10:14:15.168-08:00Of Curt and Clemens and the Cruisin' Red SoxSorry I haven't been writing -- been so busy! Graduation is coming up and a graduation parTAY... and.. all the college stuff and.. classes.. and... baseball games! Double header today! No, I'm talking about my son's team. LOL -- at least six games this week (due to earlier rainouts) and they are trying to schedule one or two more. CRAZY -- but, it's fun because my son's team is undefeated. In fact, out of like 9 games or so, they have only had two that didn't end with the ten run rule after the 5th. The game yesterday was good -- much more competitive. First time they had to come back from behind, so.. that was good.<br /><br />But what about our Sox? They're doing good. I am very, VERY happy with Josh Beckett this year. I think he really decided to get his head screwed on tighter after last year.. thank God. Everybody really, REALLY seems to be GeLLin' now. lol<br /><br />Tek is hitting really well -- Coco's coming around... Wily Mo still cannot field for the life of him. *eyeroll* -- but, we'll take the occasional grand slam I guess. :)<br /><br />Just wait'll Papi and Manny get totally into their flows -- this could be one very happy and exciting summer.<br /><br />Let's talk a moment about two pitchers: First, I'll start with Curt Schilling. Curt -- honestly, I think I may be the last member of RSN to say this, but could you PUHLEEZE just shut up? First of all -- why are you validating those morons over at WEEI??? WHY do you go on there? Just ego? Come on -- most intelligent Red Sox fans don't even LISTEN to them. (Yes, that includes me - no, I do not listen to them, but yes, I do know what they are about) The fact is, Curt: EVERYONE knows about Barry Bonds. HARDLY ANYONE LIKES or RESPECTS Barry Bonds (although the media is really, REALLY working hard now to change that -- the negative perception that they helped to create) --- we don't need you filling us in on stuff that is just going to get YOU noticed. PLEASE. WE DO NOT NEED ANY DRAMA COMING FROM YOU DURING BASEBALL SEASON. Garble all you want in the off season -- but please refrain from bringing down any negative publicity on my team. Because, like I said, they are trying to resurrect Barry's image prior to his record breaking... thing.. (I refuse to use the word 'achievement') -- and if they can turn their negativity and lay it on YOU (and hence, the Red Sox), they will. I will be some pissed if you allow that to happen just so you can spout.<br /><br />Roger Clemens: Just let me say here, that I never wanted Roger Clemens to come here, unless it was fairly reasonably cheap and then ONLY to keep him from going to the Yankees. I'm really not afraid of him. So: Tom Caron? You can stop saying things like "To the great disappointment of Red Sox Nation, Clemens is a Yankee" -- really, "great disappointment" is hardly what I'd call it. How about "to the great non-surprise of RSN.." (at least this member) -- I think it was totally OBVIOUS that he was going to go to the Yankees. They were the only ones who were going to totally break the bank which is the only thing he can come back for. Because he can "SAY" he wants to win a championship for his last thing -- obviously didn't feel the Astros could do that - obviously found out the Sox didn't need him enough to offer him anything (but I am sure they drove up the price! -- just refused to give him his 'free Roger time' -- you don't have to travel or show up when you don't pitch, actually it was the perfect atmosphere to ramp up the price, but leave out the perks...) -- and .. he can dream, but the Yankees aren't going to give him that championship either. I truly feel that (again). So... hey, might as well as make as much ridiculous money as possible off of Steinbrenner! Laughable.<br /><br />Roger: I will wager you won't even make all of your starts. So there. You will go down in baseball history as the biggest sports bust... just under Ryan Leaf. ;)<br /><br />Believe it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><blockquote>Check this out from the April 23 game:<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2wyYgMTbMgM&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2wyYgMTbMgM&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />That is some good, good stuff there. :)</blockquote>Ruthiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03862490410846278910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-124342310195749522.post-64862230213896443892007-04-15T18:22:00.000-07:002007-05-19T07:16:28.608-07:00cuz I'm the taxman....yeahhh the taxman...<br /><br />April 15th. I guess the only good thing about having to file financial aid papers to get your kid in school is that you have to get the taxes done post-haste. So I haven't had to sweat on April 14th for a few years. lol<br /><br /><a href="http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u242/ladyredsox/underdoggood.gif" target="_new window"><img src="http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u242/ladyredsox/Simon.gif" align="right" hspace="5" vspace="4"></a>Okay, someone turn off the "Go Snow!" guy.. I've already lost my power once tonight .. and I suspect it will during the night. Slush, sleet, freezing rain <em>oh joy oh joy oh ode to Spring!!! </em>*grrrrr*<br /><br />Oh, and the topper> my satellite is out due to it. And we are getting like 10 inches AGAIN. AGAIN. We just GOT 10 inches earlier in the week. What the heck!?<br />And my son calls and says "Hey! Be sure and watch Channel 9 News at 11! I'm on tv - they interviewed me about how the weather has screwed up our baseball season (not a game YET).. !" Um.. honey, I would LOVE to see you on tv, but... I don't have tv tonight. And so of course, no Sox game either BUT<br /><br />BUT<br /><br /><br /><br />BUT<br /><br /><br /><br />the Yankees lost to the A's! YES<br />Wish I could watch the highlights of THAT anyway.<br /><br />Please bring me spring... *blink blink*Ruthiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03862490410846278910noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-124342310195749522.post-51963671732029535272007-04-11T18:08:00.000-07:002007-04-11T18:12:01.510-07:00UGHDice K's opener. He did pretty well, now Pineiro is in there walking people. Dear Lord. Why the heck can't we have any offense? <br /><br />If anything, I am not surprised - it always seems teams peter out after a big run game the day before. That's why I knew waaaay back in '04, when the Yankees won 19-8 in Game Three.... that they had blown... well, to be ladylike, they had blown it let's say. Anyone remember that?? ;)Ruthiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03862490410846278910noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-124342310195749522.post-78654131294319525422007-04-10T13:16:00.000-07:002007-04-10T13:27:35.644-07:00Opening DayGosh, just had to post again -- what a great home opener.. it is still just the 6th inning and it's 13-1. Josh Beckett is doing a heckuva job.<br /><br />I guess they had some 1967 tribute today too, saw Ken "Hawk" Harrelson in the booth with Don & Jerry. They were mentioning how that year and that team ushered in the wave of popularity for baseball in Boston and that is so true. Thanks to "The Impossible Dream" ~~ Red Sox baseball has been Number One in Boston since then.<br /><br /><br /><br />------<br /><img src="http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u242/ladyredsox/pnD5Ynom.jpg" align="left" hspace="4">Just happened to notice too -- you'll never guess WHO is leading the American League in batting average? None other than Trot Nixon. ;) with .556. GO TROT!<br /><br />I thought Johnny D. would be there too, but... they have to have a minimum of 3.1 plate appearances per game played. And I don't think he's played a full game yet... well, maybe he has, who cares. lolRuthiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03862490410846278910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-124342310195749522.post-45358059330034121102007-04-10T10:57:00.000-07:002007-04-10T11:00:36.185-07:00Okay, I'm posting here!Home Opener Day!<br /><br />And let's hope the Weather Gods start being with us a wee bit more!<br /><br />So, I pretty much have gotten my blog to look like what I want -- <br /><br />I've had a few things I've wanted to comment about - and have actually, elsewhere... but I think I'll just wait until the urge comes over me again... like - right now -- I'm not upset with Coco Crisp (like I WAS), and.. although I am a bit worried about our offense, it sure helped with Papi hitting two dingers in the game the other night.<br /><br />I'd like to invite any Sox fans though (and others, if you're <em>polite</em>) to come on in and comment!<br /><br />GO SOX!Ruthiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03862490410846278910noreply@blogger.com4