Off Season Chatter

As you may have noticed, I haven't posted in about a week and a half.  The reason- not a lot has happened.  We're in the off season, which can be almost as exciting as during the season (almost).  My youngest brother tells me that the off season is his favorite part of baseball because it's more the business aspect of the game.  I wouldn't say that it's my favorite of baseball, but it can be exciting.

Photo from MLBDailyDish

The GM has to get the pieces of the puzzle to make the whole team complete.  Last off season, Cherington was able to bring in players like Napoli, Victorino, Gomes, Ross, and Dempster.  This off season, the Red Sox have Napoli, Saltalamacchia, Ellsbury, and Drew hitting the free agent market.

It's already been reported that Drew will not be coming back to the Red Sox, as he's seeking a multi-year deal, and the Red Sox offer that to him (Bogaerts will/should be taking over at shortstop).  My guess is Ellsbury won't be returning either, as he's represented by Scott Boras.  It's been reported that Boras is seeking a Carl Crawford-like deal for Ellsbury, and there's a slim chance the Red Sox will be doing that again.

The Red Sox are said to be in negotiations to bring Salty back, the hold up being in the length of the contract.  The Red Sox would like a 2 year deal, while Salty's seeking 3-4 years.  The Red Sox don't seem to see Salty as a long-term catcher for the organization, with prospects Christian Vazquez and Blake Swihart in their system.

If I had to put money on any of these four free agents coming back, I'd bet Napoli would be the one back next season.  The Red Sox originally wanted to sign Napoli to a multi-year deal last year, but when questions surfaced about Napoli's hips holding up, it was reduced to a single-year deal.  There have been reports that the Red Sox have extended a multi-year deal to Napoli, but those reports have been discredited (at this time).

Photo from Wikipedia

We're upon the time of year when "mystery teams" and "multiple suitors" are the words showing up in many reports when it comes to free agents.  If I wrote about all the rumors that are surfacing regarding the Red Sox and free agents, I would be writing non-stop.  Instead, I've been tweeting and retweeting a lot of the rumors on my Twitter account.  You can either follow it on the right side of the blog or follow me on Twitter: @BornIntoItInIA.  When credible or definitive information is reported, I will write about it in the blog.

In other news:

• Ben Cherington was named Executive of the Year.  He received 15 votes from a panel of 31 Major League executives.  The last Red Sox GM to win the award was Dick O'Connell in 1975.  
• Terry Francona beat out John Farrell for Manager of the Year (Farrell was second).  There was some negative comments being made about Francona winning when Farrell took the Red Sox all the way to win the World Series.  Personally, I think Francona did a fantastic job with the Indians, who weren't supposed to do well at all this season and made it to the Wild Card game.

Red Sox vs Yankees September 14, 2013

The Red Sox completed the sweep of the New York Yankees this weekend behind some spectacular pitching (Lester on Saturday and Buchholz on Sunday), some great hitting (Salty's grand slam on Friday and Nava hitting .306 for the season), and some surprise base running (Salty stealing home on Sunday).  They are currently 9.5 games up from the Rays, and their Magic Number stands at 4.

Saturday, September 14th, I was able to attend my second Red Sox-Yankees game.  Not only was it just a week prior that I went to the first game (at Yankee Stadium, here's the post), but the game on Saturday was at Fenway Park.  

The whole atmosphere at Fenway Park is different compared to Yankee Stadium.  While Yankee Stadium may have a well-known steak house, Fenway has Fenway Franks.  I know you may not think they compare, but when you go to Fenway Park, a Fenway Frank is the way to go.  Plus, Cole had to get a sausage from the sausage guy after the game (Rachael Ray recreated the recipe for these sausages on her show.  Here's the recipe).  Fenway Park food is iconic.

Besides the food, the fans seem to be more focused on the game at Fenway Park; or at least, that's my experience.  We saw in the bleachers at both games, but there were definitely more people in the bleachers at Fenway compared to Yankee Stadium.  The people were cheering for plays rather than yelling "(Insert opposing team here) sucks!".  Now, Red Sox fans do boo A-Rod mercilessly, but they cheer Mariano Rivera too.  

Side note: if you didn't get to watch the Mariano Rivera ceremony last night, definitely check out the video here.

I am happy to report I purchased my Jonny Gomes t-shirt!

For those of you who don't know, Fenway Park is very special to me.  My great-grandfather played for the Red Sox from 1931-1932, and I grew up a Red Sox fan (as did every other member of my family).  Walking around Fenway Park and thinking that my great-grandfather could've walked the same path as me 80+ years ago literally sent chills down my spine.

This was my fourth time at Fenway Park.  I went to a game in 2005 against the Kansas City Royals, and two games in 2010 against the Cleveland Indians.  Now that I'm living in Connecticut, I'm sure I'll be going to many more games.

Speaking of going to more games, my boyfriend and I decided we're going to Baltimore on September 28th for the Red Sox-Orioles game that night.  We're both really excited about that, since neither one of us has been to Oriole Park at Camden Yards before.  So, in less than a month on the East Coast, I'll be going to 3 Red Sox games and experience 2 new ballparks.  Not bad.

Below, you will find pictures from Fenway Park on Saturday. 

Outside of Fenway Park

Jerry Remy's Restaurant, across from Fenway Park

View of the field before the game

Another view of the field before the game

Red Sox take the field

Fenway Park and Press Box

Lester pitching

Pedroia batting and Sabathia pitching

Victorina in Center Field and Gomes in Left Field

My boyfriend, Cole, and me

#HighFiveCity

Yankee bullpen coming out.
My mom wanted a picture of Mariano River, and this was the closest thing I could get

Red Sox win 5-1

Cole's brother Shane, Shane's girlfriend Ashley; me, and Cole

Me and Cole with Fenway in the background

1931-1932
The years my great-grandfather played for the Red Sox

Twitter Friday

It's been two week's since our last Twitter Friday.  I only went back to Monday for these tweets, as I didn't have wifi service on vacation and couldn't save my tweets as I am accustomed.

Red Sox take on the Yankees this weekend at home, and let's hope they play better than they did against the Jays and Royals.

And now the Tweets!

8/12

8/13

8/14

8/15

This week's Tweet of the Week:

Random Thoughts

Welcome back to a Tuesday edition of the blog.  I apologize for not doing a Red Sox post yesterday; but as I mentioned, it was a busy day getting back into the routine.  In fact, I had so much stuff at work that didn’t get done yesterday, I went in 45 minutes early today.  If that’s not dedication, I don’t know what is.

Today, I’m going to do a Random Thoughts post.  I wasn’t able to watch many Red Sox games last week (though, I listed to a few on the radio), and the Sox didn’t play last night. 

∙  During yesterday’s off day, Pedroia, Saltalamacchia, and Gomes took in the Jays-A’s day game.  I find this refreshing.  Here are these players who make millions of dollars and have to play 162 games during the season, and they love baseball so much, they want to take in a game on their off day… or, they’re scoping out the competition (Red Sox play the Jays today).  Here’s the picture:

Here's the link to the story from the Boston Globe

∙  Ryan Kalish will be undergoing cervical fusion surgery today in Los Angeles.  Basically, this surgery is fusing together bones in the neck or putting in a metal implant.  Either way, it doesn’t sound pleasant.  This isn’t thought to be career-ending for Kalish, but one starts to wonder how Kalish could ever come back to the caliber of player he was after four major surgeries in two years (disc surgery in neck- 2011, left shoulder labrum- 2011, right shoulder labrum- 2013, cervical fusion- 2013).

∙  There has been some speculation (via Twitter, from what I’ve seen) about which pitcher will be the odd-man out once Buchholz returns.  First, let’s make sure Buchholz returns and is effective before we start the speculation.  Second, it’ll be September.  I’ve said all along that a 6-man rotation in September would be the best decision.  It’s always best to go into the post-season with a well-rested team.  Of course, I’m not expert either.

∙  Speaking of starting pitching, which starters would you have pitch in the post-season from the five we have now?  Lackey, Doubront, and Peavy are my choices at the moment, but that could change, of course, down the stretch.

∙  The minor league baseball field in my hometown, Modern Woodmen Park, was one of the finalists for the Best Minor league Ballpark Nominees for 2013 voted on by USAToday readers.  The winner won’t be announced until tomorrow; but as of yesterday, it had a slight lead over Louisville.  I’ll let you know what the outcome is when I find out, but here’s a picture of our great ball field:

Modern Woodmen Park

∙  I received a text from my boyfriend this morning with the message The Sox should sign this guy and a link to a video of Jose Iglesias making a crazy play.  Here’s the link to the video, if you haven't seen it yet:

Iglesias's crazy play

∙  Finally, I’m going to leave you today with two photos.  The first one is from my vacation.  My boyfriend and I were eating lunch at a sandwich shop along Lake Winnipesaukee last week when I snapped this gorgeous photo:

And this photo is of the apartment in Connecticut.  My apartment is the bottom floor, and I love it:

I hope everyone comes back tomorrow for the regularly scheduled Red Sox post.

Twitter Mania Friday

Happy Friday, Everyone!  If you read my blog post on Wednesday, you'll know my feelings on the Red Sox needing to find a new closer.  After the Red Sox loss last night because of Bailey's blown save and ultimate loss, the need is becoming more prevalent.

With that said, here are this week's tweets:

6/14

6/15

6/16- Father's Day

6/18

(I love that hashtag!  May have to start using it!)

6/19

6/20

And this week's Tweet of the Week:

6/20